Heritage
by A Common Hero
Summary: Twenty years after defeating Akatsuki, Sasuke has been retrieved, and the Uchiha clan has been revived. A feud between the Uchiha and Hyuga clans creates tension in the village. This is the story of one born of both clans, and how he deals with the hate.
1. Prolog

A/N: I'm still continuing with my Kingdom Hearts story, but I decided to work on this one to, since I have a lack of focus, and find it easier to just work on two ideas at once than to try to dismiss distracting thoughts. Hope you all enjoy my first Naruto fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; I only own some manga chapters, my ideas, and my pride. If anyone who in no way owned Naruto claimed to, Kakashi would Chidori their ass in their sleep (and then the head, for good measure).

**Prologue**

The night was dark, so dark; the Hyuga outcast had to activate his Byakugan merely to see through the inky blackness of a starless night sky. The cold air was biting at his unprotected face as the harsh cold of a Konoha winter swept across it like the wind and with the wind. Jumping and jumping from building to building, Neiji Hyuga had a determined look on his face, and a fire in his heart. Tonight, he was on a mission.

He remembered the Hokage's voice, as this crucial assignment was handed out to him. "Something has happened," it had said, grave as the grave. "A child has been born of the main branch of the Hyuga family. A half child."

Neiji had known the significance of these words. He had been of the branch family, and had himself been mistreated by the main house. With times as they were, the traditionalist house had become crueler in the name of security than ever. If the branch family were to be seen as tools, then a half Hyuga would be seen as corruption of the blood. The child was in danger.

"I understand, fetch the child, and bring him here, yes?"

"Wait, there is more."

And more there had been, a lot more, enough to make the situation critical. There was _no_ hope for the child if he were to remain in the care of any Hyuga house.

He looked everywhere within his 2000 Meter Radius of sight, and saw the light, the bone chilling light. It was the only light still on in the village at three A.M. The light came from a building Neiji was horribly familiar with, the building where the mark had been placed on his forehead over twenty years ago.

"I hope I'm not too late!"

He knew the entrance at the front was the only entrance with a door, but it was bound to be heavily guarded, they wouldn't want this damn ceremony interrupted, and a quick look with his Byakugan confirmed this. So he entered through a window.

The child was held on a stool, painted black with various symbols, which extended to the ground and out in a circle, surrounded by Hyuga Ninja, just as Neiji had been. These ninja were chanting in an indecipherable language, while forming hand signs. Supressing the memories, Neiji instead focused them into rage. The child was crying, and unlike him when they had done this to him, the child wasn't four years old, the child was still covered in the mess of a truly new born child.

A woman was collapsed in the corner, "Please, save… my…" she collapsed to ground, feinting.

"Bastards!"

Neiji delivered a Juken strike to the heart of one of the members of the circle, breaking his focus, and interrupting the jutsu. The others turned around to face him, as if only now seeing him, but the one he struck lay on the ground, critical damage having been done to his heart.

"You have no right to interfere, outcast!"

"And you have no right to use such a jutsu on a young child, it would kill him!"

"Who gives a damn?" A new woman enters with this line, through the main entrance, obviously in a position of enough power to bypass the guards.

"Hanabi…"

"Save it, traitor! That child must be destroyed."

Neiji voiced his outrage, "Then why not just stab it in the eyes with a shurtiken? Surely that would destroy his Byakugan? But you don't really want him dead, you want those eyes."

"Look at him you bastard!" She pointed an accusing finger at the child on the stool. "His eyes have pupils, he's a fucking halfling!"

Neiji did look, the child's eyes had opened, and they did indeed have black pupils, and brown irises, and lavender where there should have been white.

"And not just any halfling, that is the bastard child of a Hyuga, and an Uchiha!"

Neiji walked over t the child, picking it up, "I was thoroughly briefed on the situation before the mission. Listen closely! This child is under the protection of the Hokage, any attempts on his life from the Hyuga clan, or the Uchiha clan will be punished with all the severity the law can inflict!"

He turned to the lady Hyuga, "Your status can't protect you against his. We will be leaving now." He turned to leave, "Oh and by the way, this protection extends to her as well." He gave a nudge of the head to indicate that the woman in the corner was who he meant. "If you punish her, there is no legal basis for your actions. You would be punished for this incident as well, though since it happened before the decree was made, we couldn't pin down a murder charge on you, since you could so easily say that you believed the child would survive, even if you didn't. But be warned, the normal court system doesn't apply to those who harm this child anymore."

"Get back here!"

Neiji stopped, but did not turn around.

"Aren't you going to return the child to his mother, Aimi Hyuuga?"

"Yes, in the morning, when she is fit to protect it. Until then, it stays with me."

Neiji left without further adieu, and took the child back to his home, where he would guard it for the rest of the night.

XXX

Aimi Hyuuga committed suicide that night. The father refused to take custody of the child.

XXX

A/N: Behold the product of a years worth of thinking, on and off of course. Probably wouldn't have submitted this, but combine ten litters of Pepsi and a gram of snorted Cheetos, and who knows what could happen. Ok, so I didn't actually snort Cheetos, I just thought it would sound funny, but I **did** drink ten liters of Pepsi, and it **is **1:42 A.M. as I type this, combine **those** two things and who knows what could happen, other than many trips to the bathroom of course.

More to come.


	2. Graduation Part 1

A/N: Thank you for the review jmj102 (anonymous), I would have used the reply feature, but it doesn't work with anonymous reviews. I never thought I'd get a review so fast from a story I posted at 2:00 A.M.! This is inspiring, I must write another chapter!

Disclaimer: Kakashi hasn't Chidoried my ass yet (If you don't get it, read the first disclaimer).

**Chapter 1: Graduation Part 1**

"Ok students, today is the day, time for your graduation exam," said Iruka. "Let's begin by explaining the parameters, shall we?"

The students stared at their teacher in awe, concentration, and contempt. This included one student with brown irises and lavender eyes, who stared in silent respect from the back row. A student named Jiro Kimura.

"The first stage of the exam is a written test, designed to act as a basic psychological analysis," explained Iruka in a calm voice, as he passed out a piece of paper to each of his students. "If you are found to be emotionally weak, or psychotic, you will not be allowed to become a ninja.

Jiro was confident he would meet the psychological standard, as he had already taken fifty of these tests by now. He had begun to memorize and analyze the different test forms by now. He let his mind wander to thoughts of how difficult it might be to still become a ninja if he decided to screw with the analysts a little, when Iruka passed him completely, without handing him the test. Apparently he had already been judged to fit the slandered, just as he had assumed.

About an hour later, the real exam was about to begin. "Now, to test your basic skills, I am going to call each of you by name. I want you to present to the class the level of perfection your Transformation, and Clone jutsus. You may additionally choose to use a special technique, though this is basically like extra credit, you don't have to but it helps. First up is Uchiha, Hitomi."

Jiro made special note of this girl as she got out of her seat to perform for the exam. She had impressed him many times with the superior skills inherited from the Uchiha clan, and he was interested in what kind of secret technique she might perform. She got to the front of the class, and began the test.

"Begin with a transformation jutsu if you please."

"Transform." Her body emitted a puff of smoke, and came out looking like a decrepit old man. Another puff of smoke and she was herself again.

"Very good, now for a clone jutsu."

She made three hand signs, and said "Clone jutsu," in that characteristically calm voice of hers. Three clones shimmered into existence next to her, automatically allowing her to pass the test.

"Very good, now tell me would you like to perform a special technique?"

The moment Jiro had been waiting for had arrived. "Yes sensei, I would." What kind of technique would an Uchiha genius perform?

"Will it appear," the young Jiro muttered to himself, "the Sharingan?"

She walked over to the window, opening it to the fresh air. "Sorry sensei, but this technique would burn the school to the ground if I did it in here. Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She directed a jet of fire from her mouth out the window, creating a large fireball in midair. Jiro could feel the heat coming from the fire all the way up in the back row, though he couldn't see the technique properly. "The Uchiha right of passage that is my technique."

"Disappointing," remarked Jiro, though not so she could hear him. "I was hoping to see the Sharingan. Perhaps she cannot use it?"

"Excellent, now who's next? Ah, Hyuga, Hayato, it's your turn."

"No problem sensei." Hayato got up, looking confident in his success. He barely waited to get to the front of the class before beginning, and didn't wait for Iruka to tell him what to do at all. "Transform," he transformed into someone fat and ugly, but obviously not himself. He transformed back and, "Clone Jutsu!" he made ten copies of himself, before making them disappear. "And for my secret technique, Byakugan!" His eyes transformed into the fully activated Byakugan, but Jiro was uninterested. He'd seen Byakugan a million times.

"Well you sure got speed down, I'll give you that, but you're not very original," remarked Iruka. "Every Hyuga use Byakugan, every year!"

Shame showing on his face, Hayato went back to his seat. Jiro was about to zone out, until he heard his name called. "Kimura, Jiro, you're next."

Jiro went down to the stage for his final academy performance. He was told to transform, and did so by turning into Iruka. Transforming was, after all, about looking like someone else, not about looking like someone you make up. After transforming back, he executed the requested clone jutsu, producing two clones. "Now for my special technique…" _Crap, I was going to do the Byakugan, but after Hayato, there's now way I can do that move too! What other jutsu do I know?_

"If you don't have a special technique, it's perfectly OK. Please sit back dow-"

"Wind style: Long Arm Jutsu!" Jiro performed a few punches in the air, demonstrating his technique. It allowed him to create wind currents as an extension of his punches, making even his basic taijutsu a long range melee. "This is the secret technique of my own invention, my secret taijutsu!"

Iruka had to admit, the kid was the only one so far to have demonstrated his own unique jutsu. "You three: Jiro. Hayato, Hitomi, I want the three of you to wait outside, where we practice our taijutsu. Practice a bit if you want, just as long as you wait there. That will be the location of our third and final test.

"Sir!" they replied in unison, as they headed out the door.

_Those kids_, thought Iruka to himself, _the geniuses of the class, I wonder what the future holds for those such as you_?

XXX

A/N: Next time, we continue the Genin Exams, but what's up between Hayato and Jiro?


	3. Graduation Part 2

Disclaimer: Oh no, it's Kakashi! Please don't kill me, I promise I'll do a proper disclaimer this time! I don't own Naruto, stop thinking I do, or Kakashi will kill me in horrible and painful ways!

**Graduation Part 2**

"So Hitomi, quite a jutsu you got there," said Jiro, trying to make conversation. "That was such a strong fireball; I felt it from all the way in the back of the room!"

"Stop trying to flatter me, it won't work. After all, that was a really basic fire jutsu. I didn't invent it. But you, you aren't even a genin yet, yet you invented your own jutsu! …What the hell!"

Jiro blushed a little at the statement that he was more than nobody. "Well you see, the idea was to-"

"Hitomi," interrupted Hayato, "What's gotten into you, talking to the Halfling? Don't you see those eyes? The brow iris surrounded by a lavender sea? The bastard half Uchiha, remember?"

"You're the one with the lousy memory; at least he's _half_ Uchiha. You have nothing but the lavender sea in your eyes, the tainted sea! He's more than you can you can claim to be, filthy Hyuga!"

"You Uchiha Bitch!

Hayato readied his Byakugan, while both got in their fighting stance. They went to land the first blow…

…and were blocked by Jiro. "Stop it you idiots! Who cares about blood, blood means nothing. It's what in your heart that matters!"

"And what is in your heart if not blood! Murderous intent? The will of fire?" replied an enraged Hayato. "Don't make me laugh! The only thing men have in their hearts, in our hearts, is blood!"

"You may think my blood is tainted, but it is still stronger then yours."

"Heh," replied Hayato. "A challenge is it? The last test is perfect. It will be a contest, it is always a contest!" He walked ahead of Jiro, stopped, and turned around. "I'm going to volunteer to go first. If you don't volunteer to face me, you're a spineless cowered, with a heart full of tainted blood."

He walked away into the distance.

"Hitomi…"

"Blood doesn't matter huh?" She left him behind to contemplate the consequences of standing up for his ideals.

"What kind of Uchiha are you?"

XXX

"OK is everyone here?" Iruka asked his class. Everyone was. "Good then, as some of you may know, the last test is a contest between you and your fellow class mate. But the nature of this contest changes every year. So here is this years contest, a taijutsu competition. Two of you will enter the arena, and fight until your opponent surrenders, is knocked out, or I stop the match. Anything taijutsu goes, do we have any volunteers?"

I man with lavender eyes raised his hand.

"Yes, do wish to volunteer, Jiro?"

A grin spread across Jiro's face. "I volunteer to be the first to compete."

_That bastard,_ thought Hayato. "I volunteer to go second!"

"Agreed," said Iruka, worry in his voice over their rocky history. "Just remember you two, this is just to gauge your skills as ninja, even if one of you lose, you can both become genin if you just apply enough skill to the fight. Now bow to your opponent."

As they bowed, heads so close to each other, Hayato whispered to Jiro, "How 'bout we me things a little more interesting?"

"Go on."

"If you win, I'll acknowledge your claim, that blood is unimportant. If I win, you resign as a ninja!"

Jiro took a moment to consider. It was only a moment, "I'll make you pay for insulting one of the only people to ever think of me as somebody, something more than taint. I accept, but one more thing, you have to apologize to Hitomi."

He takes a sharp intake of breath, like a hiss, and then gives off a chuckle. "Agreed."

"Begin!" announces Iruka.

"Byakugan!" _I see you Jiro. I see a fool. When it comes to taijutsu, no one can best the Hyuga!_

Jiro and Hayato each assumed a defensive position, analyzing the situation. _This is bad, my options are slim, I could activate my own Byakugan, but I was never educated in Juken style taijutsu. If my opponent is a Hyuga such as this, I would surely lose. I'd loose to a maggot when it comes to Juken! My more traditional taijutsu style doesn't stand a chance against an opponent who can damage internal organs when dealing but a scratch!_

Hayato lunged, "Juken!" He lands three solid blows before Jiro gets away. _Damn, I don't have any other options, my chest, stomach and keg are all numb where he touched them, and right now he is only toying with me, not dealing permanent damage. I'll have to keep my distance._

Hayato lunges again, but before gets within ten feet of Jiro, he feels a solid punch land on his chest, and is sent flying backwards. "What the hell!"

"Aren't you smarter than that, you with your eyes of the tainted seas? Did you forget about my Wind Style: Long Arm Jutsu? Surely with the Byakugan you can see the chakra flow in the air? Or are you to busy trying to hit me? Your narrow mind narrows your sight; you see what you want to see!"

"Shut up!" he lunged again, this time seeing each extended punch with his Byakugan, and landed a blow right between the eyes.

_The chakra flow, I can't let him plug up to many of my tenketsu. _"Guess what, Hayato; you fell directly into my trap."

"Wha-"

A powerful blow to the face cut him off, and from the looks of it, broke his jaw. Having gone flying ten feet, and not appearing to be able to wake up, "I declare Jiro the winner!"

XXX

Advance medical ninjas were called in, they had plenty to spare that day, and Hayato's jaw (Which had only really suffered a small fracture) was fixed in no time. That night, at sunset, Hayato was sitting a top the stone head of the third Hokage, watching the sunset. He had a lot to think about.

"Hey, are you OK?" came Jiro's voice from behind him.

"Don't I look OK to you?"

"Yeah, medical ninjas are miracle workers." Jiro sat down in he lotus position next to his new friend. The silence extended painfully long, then…

"How did you do that?

"What?" asked a confused Jiro.

"You took me out in one punch! I mean seriously, what the hell!"

Jiro laughed for a long time before he could make a straight face again. "Actually, you kind of did that to yourself.

"I don't get it."

"Remember when I started explaining the Long Arm Jutsu to Hitomi, and you interrupted?"

"Yeah?"

Well if you had listened instead, you would have seen that punch coming a mile away!"

"What was that Jutsu?

"It was a failure." Jiro smiled. "Long arm jutsu had originally been my attempt to imitate Kakashi's Chidori using my affinity, wind chakra, instead of lightning chakra. That was before it was given a name. It was a close range attack, but all it ever did was increase the strength of my punches a little, no where near as powerful as Chidori. It wasn't even really worth the chakra used to power it. It would have been a total failure, if it hadn't been for the discovery that I could use it as a long range move. Still, it gets weaker the farther it goes, and _still_ isn't worth the chakra used. So, learned something today?"

"Yeah, more detail on how one of your jutsus works than I ever wanted to know! And that I should listen to others more, because damn was losing to you humiliating!"

"Close enough."

"Listen Jiro, about that apology, I'll get straight on it in the morning. You Uchiha…. aren't as bad as I was lead to believe."

For now, Jiro was content with having convinced one person. More would come, he hoped.

XXX

A/N: Phew, Kakashi's gone to torture someone else, so I can say yay for updates! Reviews make me dig into the pockets of my chapter buffer to give early updates, at least when I have a chapter buffer. Next time, Naruto and Sasuke must make a decision, where will the half Uchiha go?


	4. A Little Sasuke and Naruto

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. What, did you expect something more entertaining? It's a disclaimer, read the fan fic if you need to be entertained.

**A Little Sasuke and Naruto**

"These are the names of the graduates Hokage-sama."

"You know you can call me by my first name Iruka-sensei, right?"

"Of course, sorry, Naruto-sama."

Naruto was sitting in his office, in what was now his usual Hokage uniform, a white robe, though he didn't often wear the red hat. It was the night after the academy graduation exam, and now that he had the list of graduates from his old sensei, it was time to sort them into teams. Another all nighter, but he'd lost sleep over less important things. _The Genin are the future of the village. I won't be around forever after all._

At the age of thirty-five, Naruto was hardly feeling the effects of age. He still wore his hair in yellow spikes, he still wore a bright orange outfit (under the robes of course), and he still wore that goofy grin on his face. Still, age had taught him something, something more important for his job than powerful jutsu (and vaguer for that matter). He had learned to be wise, how to make important decisions, like what teams to put the new Genin in. Still, it helped to have a second opinion.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, could you do me a favor?"

Iruka stopped just before opening the door. "Yes, what is it Naruto-sama?"

Naruto gave him a smile. "Sasuke just sat down outside, could you send him in? I could use some help with this."

"Of course Hokage-sama."

Iruka left, and Sasuke entered less than a minute latter. "Hey Naruto, Iruka said you wanted some help sorting out the Genin?"

"Hey, Sasuke, I sure could use some help! These lists get longer and longer every year! I swear we're up to forty-five graduates this year; we didn't even have that many kids in our classes back when we were students. Maybe we need to make the test even harder; they _all_ graduate, every signal year!"

"You can't do that to the poor little kids, if you change the system again, the Daimyos won't be very happy. To them more ninja is equivalent to more military strength."

"Those morons don't seem to get how much trouble we have to go through to get rid of all the lesser ninja, and when we're done, it's all down to the same number it would have been if none of them had graduated in the first place. Oh well, can't be helped, might as well just sort them all out, at Ichiraku's of course!"

"Of course."

XXX

"Ok how about we put him here!"

"No Naruto, that wouldn't work, those two would work well together, but their preexisting relationship would alienate the third teammate."

"Then that's it, I give up!"

Naruto had already finished three bowls of ramen, three large bowls, and they still hadn't made any progress. The problem was that half Uchiha! They had very few cases like this in the village's history; the boy was in a very tight political situation, an anomaly in an otherwise completely simple conflict. The Hyuga hated the Uchiha, and the Uchiha hated the Hyuga for hating them. This was how it was, and how it had been for twenty years, each side only barely content to simmer in their contempt, barely containing the conflicting chaos of war, but the boy! The boy was something no one had thought possible, a boy born of two clans, each containing a Kekkai Genkai, and each clan hated him for it. Except of course for a very few individuals, two in fact, one from the Uchiha, one exiled from the Hyuga clan, and both acting only upon direct Hokage orders. One of which was the very source of the new Uchiha clan's existence in Konoha, the one he was converseing with right now.

"Listen Naruto, none of these candidates would really understand this kid anyway, not even the kid's one friend. Because they aren't like him, they don't have Kekkai Genkai. They don't have blood that makes them seem inhuman in the eyes of others. None of them are like him; no one is, because he has two."

"Listen about that, are you sure he has the Sharingan, because he hasn't displayed anything like that in his eyes, and he has the Byakugan, we know that. Isn't impossible for anyone to have two Kekkai Genkai?"

"That was only a theory, based on the need for stability in genetic structures. No one had ever been born from two different clans like this before. But I know more about the Sharingan than anyone, living or dead could ever have claimed to know. I've traced it down to the genetic level, often at the cost of dissecting the bodies of my own ancestors." Sasuke paused here, as if to reflect upon the atrocities he had committed on his pursuit of knowledge. "I had to, to reconstruct my clan. That boy has Sharingan, the nature of his parents demand it."

"No one understands him…"

"Listen Naruto, I know I told you this already, but I'm worried about that boy becoming a ninja. I can't prove a thing when it comes to Byakugan, but putting that boy in danger, that is what triggers the emerging of the Sharingan. If that happens, the boy will-"

"We already talked about this. If Jiro wants to become a ninja, if he chooses it of his own free will, than he is to big an asset to deny him that right. My duty is to the village, the only way that boy is failing, is if he fails like everyone else."

"You really don't get it, do you Naruto…"

"So then, the only teammates that could understand him at all are ones with Kekkai Genkai, right? So who on this list has Kekkai Genkai?" Without even looking at the list, Naruto paused to think. "What about those kid, the ones from the Fuki, Mori, or even the Wakahisa clan, surely they passed? Where are they on this list?"

Sasuke had to resist punching Naruto in the face. You don't punch the Hokage. "Baka! Those three are a year away from even taking the exam!"

Naruto had to resist hitting _himself_. "Wait a minute, the half Hyuga; he fought a member of the main house. This Hayato Hyuga, he would have Kekkai Genkai! Hmmm, the only other person on this year's list would be that Hitomi Uchiha."

Sasuke was stunned beyond words. Surely the old Naruto, the one who was the idiot from the Ninja Academy was gone by now? "No way, are you that dense! You want to pair the only Uchiha, and the only Hyuga, with the only one who is half of each in the entire world! You seriously think that putting them on the same team together, the three people most likely to hate each other in the entirety of the graduates, purely because they have Kekkai Genkai!"

"Think about it Sasuke, what is the point of the three level ninja system? Genin learn to be Chunin, who then learn to be Jonin. The most fundamental thing these kids have to learn is teamwork right, to put aside all differences for the team! If these three can learn to work amongst themselves, they could work with anybody."

_Intentionally creating conflict for the sake of education, who the hell would have thought of that. Still, it is a very Naruto idea, and they definitely made him Hokage for a reason._ "That is a very … interesting idea. But to be able to control such a group, we'd need a very powerful Jonin."

"I know just the guy! He's strong as fire, fast as lightning, flexible as water, dependable as earth, and strong of will like the wind. And he even has a Kekkai Genkai!"

"Who do we have like that?"

Naruto finished his fourth bowl of ramen. "Masato Kamitaka."

A/N: Time for another preview. Why? Because it is corporate policy (Disclaimer: I don't work for any sort of business in my making of this fan fic. I work alone.) In the next chapter, the team is assembled, imagine their surprise. And who is this Masato Kamitaka anyway?


	5. Teams

Disclaimer: Seriously I don't own Naruto, enough already. I said this five times, I'm not saying it anymore.

**Teams**

Jiro was early for the assignment ceremony. After all, this was a very important crossroad in his life. At the very least, he would be stuck with these teammates until the next Chunin Exam, a couple of months from now. However, it was far more likely that he either wouldn't even be allowed to participate, or else would fail. In that case, he would be stuck with these teammates for another six months after that! He didn't even consider the idea that one of his teammates might pass the exam before he did.

More students were entering the class room now, and the amount of empty seats diminished. Slowly but surely, every seat was filled, and Iruka-sensei began the announcements.

"Squad one will consist of Akiyama, Akane; Kuromori, Ayumu; and Hashimoto, Daichi."

_Damn, Ayumu was placed in a different squad than me. Guess I'll be making some new friends._

Jiro zoned out for a while after that, the names were obviously being listed alphabetically by last name. His legal last name started with a K, so he was not likely to miss much if he waited to hear it before paying attention. K was very high in the alphabetic chain.

"…Kimura, Jiro; and Uchiha, Hitomi."

_Crap_! Jiro was hitting himself now. He had missed the name of one of his teammates! Luckily, he didn't have to wait long before…

"This is an outrage!" Hayato was obviously pissed off. "How dare you put me in the same squad as the filthy Uchiha!"

"Settle down Hayato," said Iruka. "Why must you always start fights in my class room? You don't even know why the Hyuga and the Uchiha hate each other."

"What are you talking about, hell if I don't! Their leader, that bastard Sasuke murdered-"

"That is enough Hayato!"

Jiro, who had, until the point a reason for the hatred had been brought up, been barely listening to this exchange (though he did make a mental note that Hayato was obviously the third member of his team) was listening intently now. Hitomi had argued the angry point before, but this anger felt different, less inherited. It felt more like loyalty than conditioning.

"You know nothing! Sasuke would never do such a thing! He was cleared of all charges, lest you forget!"

"He was cleared because he had an in with the Hokage! The victim is still dead, and he is still the murderer."

Iruka must have decided that it was time to settle the argument. "Settle down-"

"Prove it!"

"Settle down! Squad 15 is the last squad; you will wait here while I find the Jonin, and you will not speak! When I am done, you will go off to have a private chat with your sensei."

With that, Iruka left his charges to themselves. They behaved while he was gone.

XXX

It had been hours since the other kids had left with their sensei, but Squad 15 was still waiting in the classroom. Luckily, they had managed to avoid incident by sitting in separate corners. This had given Jiro time to meditate on Hayato's words.

_What did he mean, who did Sasuke, kill?_

Just then, the door opened. In stepped a man with white skin, blue eyes, and dark black hair. His hair was cut short, but he had a beard, a mustache, and sideburns, the latter two each being connected to the former and all of which were well groomed. Jiro took note of the way he handled his movement, he moved in a casual manner, leaving himself entirely open to attack without means to counter attack effectively, even to the point of leaving his hands in his pocket. He concluded that the man was not a shinobi, or else he was one of low rank, Chunin or lower, despite his apparent age group's average rank being that of a Jonin. Jonin were known to always be on the alert.

"Hello students, I'm going to be your new sensei."

_What, this amateur, our sensei, is he even a Jonin?_

"Hey," remarked Hayato, "why the hell are you three hours late?" He obviously hadn't observed the odd movements of their sensei.

"Sorry, lost track of time. I was taking a nap, good one too."

Hayato almost lost his temper at this, but Jiro shot him an ugly look, and interrupted him. "Might as well make up for lost time, right sensei? Shall we go?"

Their sensei smiled. "Yes, I suppose we shall."

On the way out, Hitomi approached Jiro from behind, and said as they walked, "From that look in your eyes, I would say you noticed it too. That man doesn't move like a Jonin."

Typical, the only observant member of his team was the Uchiha. "Hayato seems to be clueless."

She chuckled, "Yes, so it would seem."

XXX

The alleged Jonin had led them out to the training field. "Normally, if only for the sake of politeness, I would ask you to introduce yourself, tell me your dreams, ect. But as Jiro pointed out, we should probably save time. So, I'll just tell you about me. My name is Kamitaka, Masato. My likes and dislikes, don't really remember what it was, but I know I like shooting lightning out of my fingers, and dislike pork. My hobbies… don't really have any. My dreams for the future, that's a personal matter, which we have no time to get into."

_So all we learned was his name, typical. Wait a minute, he knew my name…_

"Wait," asked Hitomi, "shouldn't you be asking use those questions/"

"Ask your selves later if you want, I already know. You see, I conducted a thorough investigation of your pasts before contacting you. I memorized, among other things: your names, your likes, your dislikes, your hobbies, any dreams you've ever stated you have for the future, your addresses, your phone numbers, all of the previously stated information on your friends, same for your family, your insecurities, your favorite brand of toilet paper, how many forks you own, and that one of you sleeps in the nude. About that last one, I would appreciate it if you **didn't**do that on missions. You know who you are."

The new Genin were very creped out, or very impressed, by this display of information gathering, to the point of their jaws literally dropping. Jiro, for one, was impressed. _To have conducted such a thorough, if a little creepy, search, in the space of less than twenty-four hours, or more probably, the space of less than twelve. Is this man a Jonin after all?_

"Okay, you three face a choice now. You can choose to face my test now, in which case it is best you choose quickly, or you can choose to fight tomorrow, and use the extra time to prepare."

Jiro and Hitomi huddled together.

"Forget what we thought before, the man is most certainly a Jonin. We obviously need to choose the second option."

"I agree Hitomi. We should probably use the time to research the abilities of our sensei. We have his name, all we have to do is-"

At that point, Hayato shook off his overly informed stupor. "You. Creepy. Bastard! How dare you stalk a member of the main branch!" He rushed at his opponent, poised to deliver a retaliatory strike.

Before anyone even knew what happened, Hayato was on the ground, a red fist shaped mark on his face.

_What is this? His position, it's exactly as it was before. How could this man have done that, but put his feet back in the exact spot they had been in before? Could it be that he used his hands, not a kick? But that's impossible; his hands were in his pocket. How could someone possibly attack someone so quickly with his hands in such a position? And yet, the mark on Hayato's face is a fist. What is he?_

"I assume this means you except my challenge, we will fight today."

Jiro had barely processed what this meant before Hitomi responded. "What? Hayato…. You idiot!"

"That was nothing. I held back, sensei. Hyuga don't use the Jyuken unless they're seriously fighting someone. And now, I will use the Jyuken on you!"

Jiro sighed, a fight was inevitable. They couldn't win of course; they were up against a true Jonin. Yet still, if only because of a bit of idiocy, they were going to fight.

"Very good, I want you all to take me seriously. If you don't, I might accidentally kill you. The test is simple, it is a bell test. But don't think you know all the rules just yet, I can see it in your eyes that you think you do. I have modified it a little, there are three bells in this test, but I do not have them. Instead, they are hidden in the surrounding environment, in three separate locations. The forest, the village, you name it, and it could be there. I have a small scroll hidden on my person which contains coordinates that will give you the exact location of the three bells. But to get it, you will have to take it from me. You can take the scroll, or you can look for the bells. Either way I'm going to stop you. If you fail, you get sent back to the academy."

This came as a shock to no one; the tests had become thoroughly famous.

Jiro cursed Hayato's idiocy, and hoped for a miracle.

XXX

A/N: Holly shit, Masato is insane! How can they beat such a powerful opponent? And what is Kamitaka's Kekkai Genkai? I bet Jiro has a plan…


	6. Test

**Test**

Jiro needed time to analyze his opponent's strengths and weaknesses, as he had nothing to go on when it came to strategy. The only hope they had of beating the Jonin was to work together to overpower him. They were doomed.

"Hayato."

"Yeh."

"I need you to provide a chance to formulate a strategy."

Hayato looked a little confused. "How does that work again?"

"You hit him with Jyuken, I'll watch."

Hayato gave a smile at this; apparently he severely underestimated his opponent, despite the red mark on his cheek that should have told him not to. "Just leave everything to me; I'll kick his ass by myself! Byakugan!"

As soon as the dōjutsu activated, Hayato gave a cry of pain, clutched his hands over his eyes, and fell to his knees.

"Sorry, I have that effect on Hyuga. Hope your friend's alright."

_What is this some kind of jutu?_ "Hayato, what happened?"

The young Hyuga deactivated his Byakugan. "Guys, his level of chakra, its unreal! Looking at him with a Byakugan, is like looking at the sun!"

"What?"

"I've never seen this much chakra before, except…" Hayato's eyes widened. "No way! The only time I've ever seen this much chakra, was when I tried to look at the Hokage!"

_Impossible. Naruto level __chakra, who is he?_

"Wait a minute, why aren't you attacking us?"

Masato laughed. "The test isn't about hurting you, its about stopping you. You haven't decided yet, attack me, or search for the bells, though Hayato came pretty close when he activated the Byakugan. I can't stop you if I don't know where your going."

_Damn, I wanted to gauge his abilities before making a final decission. If his __chakra's at that level, I think we better run._ "Hayato, can you stand?"

"Yeh, just a headache."

"Guys, we need to run."

"No I don't"

Jiro was surprised, he had expected something like that from Hayato, but how could Hitomi be that dense?

"It doesn't matter how fast he is, how strong he is, or how much chakra he has, he can't touch me."

Masato smiled. "Is that a threat?"

"Yes, it is. Fire style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Her arch of fire went strait towards Msato, but he vanished at the last minute. By the time Jiro had noted that he was just moveing really fast, he had appeared in front of Hitomi. He administered a swift kick to her abdomen, with a sickening crunch. She went flying, hit a tree, landed on her face, and didn't get up.

"Hitomi!"

"Well, I geuss she wasn't strong enogh." Then Masato looked down. "What is this?"

His leg had been completely covered in a black, tar like, substance, which was slowly creeping up his leg.

"I can't move my leg, what kind of jutsu-"

Fast as lightning, he reached behind him, grabed at thin air, and swung his arm over his back in a slaming motion. The tar disapeared from his leg, and Hitomi was revealed to be in his grip, while the seemingly dead Hitomi that had been kicked dissapeared.

"Well, well, combining a Perfect Clone Jutsu with a Shadow of Tar Jutsu. Quite the little Genjutsuist, aren't you?"

She struggled against his grip, and Jiro realized he had to act.

"How did you see through it?"

"It was impressive, but flawed. First of all, when everyone was distracted by your fireball, you made the hand signs for your both of your Genjutsu, but I wasn't distracted, and saw your hands move. Also, your perception of reality didn't take into acount the strength of my kick. Perfect Clones are ilusions that can react to environmental stimuli, and can even creat the illusion that the environment is reacting to them, as long as the user knows how the environment should react. But you didn't know how strong my kick was, the tree yourclone hit should have been splinterd."

_How could he kick his own student that hard?_

"After that, I combined the lack of an apropriate reaction in nature with the hand signs I saw you perform, and I concluded that you had me trapped in a Genjutsu. I formulated a plan based off the most likely stratagy you would take, and you proved to be predictable."

"Wind style: Long Arm Jutsu!"

He struck the Jonin in the gut, for no effect!

"Hmmm, quite the technique you have there. An elemental release at your level, I'm impressed by your skills,both of you."

"Hey, what about me?"

"Shut up Hayato. As I was saying, that was impressive, but you'll find the elements to be ineffective against me."

Jiro watched in horror as lightning began to gather in his sensei's fingertips. "I told you I like to shoot lightning, don't look so surprised."

He shot a large lightning bolt at the boy, who was only barely able to dodge. "Run!"

The Genin ran away from the lightning shots, and into the forest, their sensei only three steps behind.

XXX

The sun was setting, and time was running out. Jiro and the others were hiding in a tree, only baely having lost their sensei.

"I think we lost him guys. Wait there he is, duck!"

The three students sunk down into their hiding place, and Jiro decided to use this break in the onslaught to formulate a plan.

_This man is__ unreal. He fires of lightning, fire, water, wind, __**and **__earth based jutsu, without even making hand signs! The level of power he is exhibiting is impossible, no one can use all five of the elements!_ He looked down at his enemy, and was surprised to see not an ounce of sweat on him. The man was showing no signs of fatigue, despite have shot off twelve bolts of llightning with the power of **real** lightning, five fireballs the size of a small cottage, three gusts of hurricaneian wind, two small tendrills of water, and one boulder at them.

_Its almost like he has infinite stamina! But, even the Hokage gets tired! He uses __chakra based attacks at this level of sophistication without hand signs, and on top of that, he can use all five elements. Wait a minute, is this a Genjutsu? No, it shows no inconsistencies, everything is __**too**__ realistic, except for his unusual powers. But at the very least, someone who is able to create such an incredible illusion would not overlook something as simple as making his clone use hand signs. Its real, and its, __**exciteing**_

The Jonin left, obviously hopeing to find them elsewhere. Jiro waited for ten minutes before decideing it was safe to talk.

"Ok, we need a plan, lets go over what we know."

Hitomi provided information. "He has incredible taijutsu speed, and a very perceptive mind."

"Yeh," offered Hayato, "and he has an incredibly large amount of chakra, which doesn't seem to fadeing. He shows no signs of fatigue."

Jiro added, "And he can controle all five elements, without hand signs. Hitomi, you're a Genjutsuist, what do you think, are we trapped in his Genjustsu?"

"Not a chance."

Hayato interupted, "Wait guys, I have something to add. Remember when he kicked Hitomi?"

"Yes."

"Well, thing is, his kick was full of holes to counter atack with, or it would have been if he hadn't been moveing to fast to counter atack. Yet, **his** counter atacks are flawless, no room to counter atack the counter atack."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know, its like he has all the physical strength and fighting **instinct** of an advanced Jonin, but none of the experience."

"How is that possible."

"How is anything he does possible?"

They sat in silence for a while, then Jiro found the anserw. "It's a Kekkei Genkai!"

"What?"

"A Kekkei Genkai! Look at us, we each come from an advanced bloodline, that's the theme of our group! So does our Sensei! We were all assigned into Squad 15 because of our advanced bloodlines! The ability to use all five elements, the lack of hand signs, and even his immense chakra, could all be caused by some sort of Kekkei Genkai!"

"But what about his taijutsu anamoly?"

"I don't think that has anything to do with Kekkei Genkai, but everything else fits!"

"So what do we do?"

"We launch our own counter atack!"

XXX

A/N: Next time, Jiro has a plan to stop his Sensei. But to do it, he needs his companions to trust eachother. As the deadline loams ahead, old rivalries resurface, and the futer seems bleak.


	7. Trial

**Trial**

"Guys, before my plan can work, I have to know something."

Surprised by his hesitance, Hitomi asked, "Need to know what?"

"Why do you trust me, or more accurately, why don't you hate me?"

Hayato laughed, "That's an easy one! You beat me in a fight, beat me damn hard! The condition was that if you win, I have to acknowledge your claim that blood was unimportant."

"And I don't really see your Hyuga side; you have the blood of the Uchiha clan in you, which make you no different than me."

"That's it? You expect me to believe that bullshit!"

Hayato got angry at this. "Hey, we trust you, and we even gave a reason. Isn't that enough?"

"No it's not! All my life, the Hyuga clan and the Uchiha clan have given me hell! And for what? Because of my eyes! Eyes I don't even want, never even asked for! I was born the way I was, I was born hated. That's why I have to know why you don't hate me, because I need to know how much your reason can take before it will break. My plan won't work if you aren't willing to risk your lifes to make it succeed. So I have to know, are willing to die like a Shinobi, or would you rather live like dogs?"

This speech was met with silence, and then one spoke out.

"I had only to look to the past to see that hating you was bullshit. They say you are impure, that your Hyuga blood makes it so that you are not an Uchiha, despite your Uchiha blood. If you are not an Uchiha, then you could only be a Hyuga. So they hate you like a Hyuga. But I looked into the past of the Uchiha clan, and discovered something terrible. It was all but wiped out, by one of its own members. Only that man and his brother Sasuke were left alive. Yet, the Uchiha clan still stands." A tear rolled down her face. "I still do not know why we still exist, but unless the past is lying to me, none of us are pure Uchiha. So if you are not an Uchiha, then none of us are, and I can not bear that thought. So you have to be an Uchiha, and I can not hate an Uchiha, no matter much of a Hyuga he is."

The silence stretched on again. They each hid their faces from each other, ashamed of the cold dead truth. Then someone stepped away from his shame.

"Sorry, but my reason isn't so profound. It really is just that fight. They say you're weak, that the blood of the Uchiha makes you weak. Then, you kicked my ass. So if they were wrong about that, they may have been wrong about other things. Until I have proof, I have no reason to hate you."

Jiro smiled, nothing like honesty to make faces smile. "Ok then, here's the plan."

XXX

Masato was becoming impatient. They had to move sometime.

_I hate this. I heard that boy Jiro screaming, but I can't go chase him. They need to be given a chance to settle it, so I have to wait for a sign of where they are, despite knowing where they are._

He heard a rustling noise in the trees, and saw some leaves move. He fired off a lightning bolt into the trees, and a young girl jumped out in order to doge.

"So you decided to attack after all, I would be impressed, if you weren't so hopelessly outmatched."

Twenty mirror images of Hitomi fell out of the trees around him; he was surrounded with no chance of escape.

"Perfect Clone Jutsu again, you think you would move on to something less predictable, are those three your only jutsu? You'll need more to defeat me and capture the scroll."

"She has more than that."

Jiro jumped down and landed in the ring of Hitomis.

"She has me!"

"So where's that Hayato kid?"

"He left to go look for the bells, his skill with the Byakugan is better than mine. If anyone can find them he can."

"And why describe the plan in such detail, now I'm just going to go after him."

"Ah, but here's the thing, our goal here is not to get the scroll. It's to keep you from keeping us from getting the bells. Talking is an excellent delay tactic."

"Yes, it is. I see you're even doing all the talking so that Hitomi doesn't reveal her position. You know what that tells me? That she hasn't perfected her Perfect Clones yet, and can not make one seem to be speaking. That reminds me, the Perfect clone from before; it didn't make any noises either. I had just attributed the lack of sounds from her feet to an imitation of ninja stealth, but it didn't grunt when I kicked it or anything. This means I just have to find the one that makes no noise, and I'll know which is really her."

"Why are you telling me all of this?'

"Because talking is an excellent delay tactic."

Jiro realized what was happening, and turned around quickly. He saw a mirror image of his sensei behind one of the Hitomis.

"Hitomi C, behind you!"

She turned around, and jumped out of the way just in time, as the clone shot out a tendril of water from thin air at her like a whip, causing a crater on the ground where she had stood only moments before.

"Like it, it's a Water Clone. I made it myself, as a gift from me to you. Oh and don't forget, I can use elemental Jutsu without hand signs!"

Thirty Water Clones dropped out of the trees, each with arms that were transformed into tentacles of water.

"So you can even construct clones with your powers, but they have a weakness. They have your abilities, but wouldn't one of your lightning jutsu be more powerful? They can only use jutsu of the element they are formed from."

"Very clever, but since there is twenty one of you, and thirty one of me, I'll just send ten Water Clones to search for your friend." He nodded his head and ten clones left. "Oh, and I heard how you distinguish between clones by letter. What I didn't hear was noise from Hitomi C, so she is fake. Water clones, attack"

The water clones swung their tentacles at the enemies, but the Hitomis and Jiro all dodged, creating a mass of scars in the ground.

"Only one Hitomi made any noise, attack her and Jiro. The rest can not harm you."

The twenty clones attacked the two warriors, and they were soon over powered, and held down. The real Masato bound them together and to the ground with an earth jutsu, and they were trapped.

The Water Clones dissolved, and Kamitaka went over to taunt his foes, who were now caught up to their necks in elevated earth.

"Guess you didn't see this comeing huh? Now all I have to do is find that Hayato kid, and I can fail you."

"Guess you didn't see this comeing."

"What?"

Masato watched as the two trapped Genin disappeared, and looked down to see a kunai across his neck.

"How did you do that?

"Simple, you didn't give Hitomi enough credit. Her Perfect clones are perfect. They create noise; she just neglected to do so before. I then exploited this by making you think that was a weakness, and by making you think that the me you saw had to be real because it can speak. Then I snuck up behind you in the confusion of the fight, and took this chance to launch a sneak attack."

"And where is the real Hitomi?"

She dropped from the trees, right in front of him. "Here I am. Now hand over the scroll."

"Not a chance."

Jiro sighed. "Ok, have it your way. Hayato, find it yet?"

Masato directed his gaze in the direction Jiro was looking, and was just barely able to make out the well hidden shape of Hayato Hyuga.

"Yep, didn't think I could pull it off at first, but like you said, my Byakugan is better than yours."

"Wait, why did you hide him up there?"

Jiro smiled, "So that he could search your body for the scroll while we distracted you. The fact that it ended up lowering the number of Water Clones we had to 'fight' was a small bonus, though ultimately unimportant. This was actually the most questionable part of the plan. We knew the scroll was somewhere on your person, but we needed to find it with Byakugan, which your intense chakra makes a bit more tricky to use. We needed to use a penetrating enough gaze to see through the different places you could of hidden the scroll, without looking through you, and consequently, at your chakra circulatory system. That required a level of skill none of were sure we had. Good job by the way, Hayato."

"Thanks."

Masato laughed as much as a man in his predicament could laugh, as Hayato came and removed the scroll from his back shuriken pouch. "Good job, a great plan, but there are a few holes. For one, I'm not completely incapacitated."

"Hayato noticed your intentional Taijutsu attacks lack finesse. I can counteract them well enough."

"Ten of my Water Clones still exist."

"They had no idea where to begin looking for Hayato, since they know that we had no idea where to look for the bells. We could be anywhere to them, which is a big place to look for one man. I also know that you can't communicate with them telepathically, or some such craziness because you nodded your head to signal them earlier. With any luck, they won't find us before it is too late, the odds are pretty low that we'll run into them on accident over such a wide area when they have no idea where they are, and we know exactly where we are going."

"Ah, but that leaves the biggest hole in your plan, this 'we' you speak of. If you go, you have to find some way to drag me with you, or I'll chase you."

"This leads me to the next part of my plan. Hitomi, Hayato, go, I'll hold him off."

Masato mentally slapped himself. "Of course, part of your ruse was that Hayato was acting independently, which would work!"

Jiro nodded his head, and his teammates left to find the bells.

"Hitomi created the clones, Hayato found the scroll. Its time I did my part, for the good of the plan."

XXX

A/N: Next time, a one on one fight between Jiro and Masato, but how can Jiro win?

Oh and a little information on my writing. I felt like explaining the naming system I use for my characters. Each name I give a non-throw away character has some level of significance (and no character I have currently named will be disappearing forever). This applies to first and last names (and middle names too, but I haven't really given anyone a middle name yet). This sometimes is nothing more than a description of the character (i.e.: Akane means deep red, which refers to her hair color). It usually refers to how they fight (i.e.: Hayato means Falcon Person, according to the website I found his name on, which is a reference to the Byakugan). However, some of these names provide important foreshadowing (I obviously won't give away any of these names, that would ruin it). Names like Uchiha and Hyuga are used when I want that person to be of that clan (either to have the Sharingan/Byakugan, or to hate Jiro), and since these names are part of the real Naruto storyline, I can't change them so I don't control what they mean. I thought it might be fun to see if you can find the foreshadowing, or even what kind of fighting styles people might have, based on their names, so I told you how I named my characters. Have fun!


	8. Triumph

**Triumph**

"Now that your teammates have left, you might want to think about surrendering."

"Now why would I do something like that?" asked Jiro.

"Because, I can easily escape from your pathetic little trap, and then I will crush you."

"Big talk coming from someone who is up against a hybrid of both the Uchiha and the Hyuga clans."

"Yes, the boy rejected by both. I looked into your past. It's true you can use the Byakugan, but that is useless against me. Besides, you have no instruction in Jyuken anyway. You were given to a non-ninja family to be raised by a signal woman, who had no jutsu to teach you. You only know the academy basics, and your special Long Arm Jutsu. Against me, there is nothing to compare."

Jiro grimaced, the man knew. He had no attacks; he could not perform so much as the Fireball Jutsu, the most basic of fire jutsu.

Masato closed his eyes, and was suddenly on fire. Jiro only barely managed to let go before being burnt.

"Now we have a fair fight," said Masato, his fists crackling with flame.

"Ok, but I should warn you, I have a trick up my sleeve."

"Don't you always?"

Jiro vanished, and reappeared behind his sensei.

"So fast!"

As his teacher turned to shot fire at the buy, Jiro ran to his enemies left, and tossed a kunai. Masato shot a bolt of lightning strait through the blade, piercing it in half, trying to hit the boy. But the child merely dodged the lightning and ran to the back of his opponent again, who then responded by making an earth spike rise out from the ground under Jiro's feet. The Genin jumped out of the way, using chakra to attach himself to a nearby tree.

He was about to jump off for a close range attack, when wooden arms emerged from the tree behind him, latched onto him and pinned him to the tree. Everything but his head was covered, and no matter how much he struggled, he could not break free.

"Wood release, how the hell? Is there nothing you can't perform?"

Masato smiled. "I really enjoy pissing you off, you know that. I think it's that look on your face, priceless! Yes, I can combine elemental chakras. In fact, I can combine **any **elemental chakra, even more than one." As if to prove his point, he covered Jiro's mouth in ice, silencing his next sentence.

"That was fun, now to go find the others. I know they can't of gotten far, their not as fast as you. I should chase them. Then again…" He removed the ice from Jiro's mouth. "I need to know, how the hell did you get so fast? I saw your fight with Hayato yesterday, and you were no where near this fast. You could not have become so strong in only a day."

I have weights on every inch of my body that is hidden by my cloths, it's a training technique. I couldn't take them off to face someone like Hayato, but a Jonin, is another story. Hayato, would have been crushed if I destroyed him so easily."

"But he hated you."

"That doesn't matter."

Jiro's eyes began to water a little, but he blinked twice, and it was gone. "I trained so hard to develop my body to its fullest. The arts of the clans had been denied me, and so I sought a different path, one that I could not be denied. I trained to be so fast that no one could possibly hit me with any of their fancy jutsu. But when it came time to do the deed, I couldn't do it. I couldn't take my revenge, and now I'm better for it. I have a friend, one who hated me, but now does not, and things wouldn't be the way they are if I had taken revenge. I realize that I don't want it. Revenge against the Hyuga, and the Uchiha, holds no value to me."

Masato looked shocked, and then a smile like none Jiro had ever seen entered his face. "You pass the exam."

XXX

Jiro was now off the tree, his feet back on good old solid ground.

"I don't get it, I passed. But I didn't get a bell yet!"

"The test wasn't about the bells. You proved that you guys could work together, despite your differences, for the good of the mission. There are no bells."

"But if there are no bells-"

"Your friends will find two scrolls, each saying 'you pass, come to the entrance to the training ground, and do not retrieve a second scroll.' The bells were contrived to make it so you had to fight me to hide your target, thereby proving you were brave enough to face the path of the Shinobi, rather than just quit. Then you each had to work together, in order to overcome a great peril.

"Hayato stayed back in the hidden safety, despite every instinct that was telling him to fight. He trusted you enough to follow your plan, despite the risk of failure. He believed in you, and he proved he could do things in a way he'd rather not, for the group.

"Hitomi proved that she could be humble. In the beginning she tried to destroy me with her Genjutsu on her own, and failed. Yet when you came together, she used her Perfect Clones to help provide a distraction for your ambush. She was not in the spotlight, you were. But she overcame this, and proved that she was bigger than her ego.

"And you Jiro, you overcame hatred. You acted all innocent, but we were worried that you might harbor desires for revenge against the Uchiha and Hyuga. But you proved that that was not the case. You also proved that you could risk your life. Throughout the entirety of the battle, I did everything in my power to convince you that I could, and would kill you. Yet you overcame that, and faced me, for the good of the mission, and to provide your friends with the opportunity to live. You proved that you are an exceptional Shinobi, and that we could trust you as team leader."

Jiro was stunned beyond words. He was actually torturing himself in very painful ways inside for having not seen it sooner. _It was so damn obvious! Wait, did he say I was team leader?_

The others came back, and Hayato, said "Ok, what's with the bullshit? The test was won, how the hell?"

XXX

After their sensei explained again, the others were shocked.

Hitomi got the courage to ask, "What did you mean when you said that Jiro was going to be the leader?"

"Well here's the thing, Jiro is obviously the best tactician out of you three. He came up with the plan, he analyzed the situation, and he saw through almost everything. And I can't make plans to save my life, or yours for that matter. So he'll be coming up with the ideas. Of course, as a Jonin, I still outrank him, but for all intensive purposes, what he says goes. Any more questions?"

"You have Kekkei Genkai, right sensei?"

"Well if it isn't the leader himself. You really did see through everything. Yes I have Kekkei Genkai."

"What's it called?"

Masato paused. "I… Don't know."

"Huh? What do you mean you don't know?"

"I'll tell you the full story some other time. Suffice it to say; I don't remember, well, anything really. Just my name. We thoroughly researched it, but could find no evidence of a Kamitaka clan. So I don't know, but I have mastered it with practice."

_So this is the source of his Taijutsu anomaly, he doesn't remember how to fight! But then how could he have developed such instincts? It would take centuries of fighting for instincts like that to develop to the point where they exist even through amnesia. Perhaps this is a question for a better time._

"If that's all, we have our first mission tomorrow. Congratulations, you are all officially Genin now."

As they exited the training grounds Hayato raised his voice.

"Did you really research how many forks we own?"

"Of course, in the hands of a ninja, forks are a deadly weapon. I had to know how many you might bring."

"You're kidding right?"

Masato just gave a mighty laugh, and they exited the training grounds. Jiro decided that that night would be a great night for some rest, like a twelve hour nap. And so he spent his star spangled night in bed.

XXX

A/N: Next time, the group is asked to go on their first mission, but what happens when the Uchiha get in the way?


	9. The First Mission

**The First Mission**

Jiro got out of his bed, put on new cloths, and tied his headband to his forehead. "Today I have my first mission."

It was said that every exercise, every jutsu, every waking moment of a students life was devoted to the preparation for his mission. Jiro wondered what it would be, what kind of monumental task would require a man to devote everything he had to merely begin to **pretend** he could accomplish it. Then he reminded himself that he was a Genin, and would likely be doing nothing more difficult then rescuing a cat in a tree. Still it was a paying customer's cat in a tree, and was therefore worth more effort than he was giving it.

He took a look at his clock, "Oh no, I'm late!"

He rushed out of the house and onto the street, hoping against hope to get to work on time.

XXX

"Hey you, stop!"

Jiro did as he was told, though was frustrated by doing so. He was a mere ten feet from his destination, and still couldn't afford the delays.

"Aren't you that bastard half-Hyuga?"

Uchihas, he really didn't need this right now.

"Yeh, so what?"

"So this, you aint going no where!"

Jiro turned around to face his enemy, to find that he was facing three drunken Uchiha, who didn't even have head bands.

"Are you three even ninja?"

"Hah," said the first, walking towards him with a swagger, "shows what you know! I'm the great Sasuke Uchiha, leader of the Uchiha clan, smiter of Hyuga!"

This man was so drunk; he didn't even know who he was. _Then again, he is an Uchiha. He might know how the whole mess started; now let's see if I can get it out of him._

"And why do they call you that, oh glorious Sasuke."

"Because I killed a Hyuga brat! It was so damn easy too. It was over in the blink of an eye!"

The man obviously knew nothing. After all, Sasuke couldn't have killed someone, could he?

"And I'm going to do the same to you."

The drunken man launched a Taijutsu attack against the young Genin, one that he was barely able to doge. _How is he doing that, is he a user of the Drunken Fist style_?

He launched attack after unpredictable attack, each one only barely dodged, until he finally struck his mark. He hit the young boy's chest, and a resounding clang sounded through the air.

"Ow, what the hell was that?" The pain in his arm appeared to have snapped him out of his drunken state, disarming him of his Drunken Fists.

"It's armor, or weights if you want to get technical."

"Who the hell goes around wearing an armored vest under his shirt?"

A voice came from behind the three Uchiha. "Who the hell goes around punching people in the chest?"

It was Hayato. "You could stop someone's heart doing that you know."

"I should be so lucky."

"Byakugan!" Hayato activated his special ability, and proceeded to use Jyuken to obliterate his opponents.

"What is this? I can't move!"

"And I wouldn't try if I were you, could damage your organs. Wouldn't want that would we?"

"Bastard!"

"That's what you get for hitting my friend."

"Jiro, Hayato, get going!" exclaimed a voice from the roof of the tower. It was impossible to tell who it was, as it was barely audible at all. "You two are over an hour late!"

"Sorry," yelled Jiro. "My alarm didn't go off, and then I was attacked by these Uchiha."

Hayato stopped outside the door. "Jiro, do you always wear that armored vest under your shirt?"

"Not always, why?"

""Because, I felt it during our fight, and thought it was for protection. Hurt my fingers a little, but physical barriers can't stop the Jyuken, so I ignored it. But just now, I decided to take a look at it with the abilities I learned in our fight with Masato. I saw the label of its weight."

"Hayato, I-"

"You didn't go all out when you were fighting me!" Hayato accused with a mighty roar. "Without those weights holding you down, you would have wiped the floor with me! Well I refuse to let that happen next time, after this mission, you and I are going to spar again. And this time, you better not hold back."

Jiro smiled, he knew it would be a friendly competition this time. "Ok, deal."

XXX

"Now that everyone's here," said Naruto Uzumaki, "let's start the debriefing. In the former country of the Sound, a faction of unknown individuals has used the chaos of the civil war to start an illegal slave trade. We have very little information on this organization, except that there are three founders, and at least one of them is supposedly a missing-nin, although we don't know which one or from what village, or even if there is one at all, or only one. We don't know how large the organization has become, we don't know how many ninja have been recruited, and we don't even know where they are. Therefore, while on your main mission, we request that you also gather information on this organization.

"A family of refugees was recently separated from their only daughter while trying to flee the country. As their daughter did not disappeared while in the middle of a battle, but instead on a relatively peaceful afternoon, the family believes her to be in the hands of the organization. They contacted us by means of a carrier pigeon, their letter asking us to except a mission to reclaim their daughter from the organizations 'vile clutches.' They enclosed enough money for a C rank mission. Your mission is to retrieve the girl without getting yourselves killed, understood?"

_Wow, this seems pretty hard for a first mission._

Hitomi apparently thought so too. "Shouldn't you send a squad at least the Chunin level for something like this?"

Sasuke, who was standing behind Naruto's shoulder, spoke out at this. "We choose Squad 15 because you have two expert information gatherers, one analyst, and a Jonin leader who we believe to be more than capable of defending you against the most likely threats, as long as you don't do something stupid enough to bring upon the wrath of one of the founders, who might be a Missing-nin of unknown strength."

Hayato laughed, "Sounds like fun!"

"Fun has nothing to do with it, you need to go in, get the girl, and get out. If you can get some info on the organization, then we would appreciate it, but you are not to engage them in combat unless necessary, do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

"Dissmissed."

XXX

"What's with sensei, he's an hour late!"

Hayato was fuming over a correct fact; their sensei was an hour later than the time they were supposed to leave the village in getting to his students. They were waiting by Konoha's main gate, facing north toward the former rice country, longing to get going. Then Jiro remembered something.

"Hitomi, did you get that information I asked for?"

"Oh yeah, I got it memorized, pretty astonishing. Masato came to the village two years ago, with no memory of who he was, other than his name. After the discovery of his special talent, it was explained to him what a ninja was, and he was offered a chance to become one. After a crash course in basic Jutsu, he was promoted to the rank of Genin, and given his own private sensei! After a series of D and C rank missions, it was decided that he was of great enough skill to go on missions alone. He rose to the rank of Chunin within four months of his inauguration as a Genin, and became a Jonin within a year! But that's not the most astonishing part. Get this, he has been on a total of 97 D rank missions, 30 C rank missions, 12 B rank missions, and 3 A rank missions all on his own, and has never come back with a signal scratch on him!"

"No way!" exclaimed Hayato. "This is our sensei?"

Jiro was troubled. "That seems a little off to me. The Masato I know from yesterday got caught by our incredibly simple ambush. He has less analytical skills than a grapefruit, but he came back from these missions without a scratch? There has to be more to this story, something we don't know…"

Jiro trailed off at the sight of a man approaching them from the village. Was it their sensei?

No, Jiro did not recognize the man, though Hitomi seemed to.

"Atsushi!"

"Hitomi, what are you doing with these Hyuga? Explain yourself!"

"They're my teammates…"

"What! Your… this is an outrage! I'm going to make sure the Hokage knows I won't stand for this!"

"Father, no! They're more than teammates, they're my…"

"Your what!"

"They're my friends!"

The man was dumbstruck. "What treachery is this? You don't need friends; you need family, power, prestige! Nothing less for my little girl. And most importantly of all, you are not to associate yourself with Hyuga!"

"Dad…"

Jiro looked into this man's eyes with rage, and saw that they were unnaturally red.

_Sharingan, and of the third level! But why are the tomoe spinning?_

Jiro felt his body begin to relax, felt his mind slipping away into darkness…

"Guys," Jiro cried out, "don't look into his eyes!"

He and Hayato managed to avert their gaze, and immediately Jiro's mind became unclouded, but it was too late for Hitomi.

"Come my daughter, it is time to go."

"Yes father."

She began to slowly follow this man named Atushi back to the village, until Jiro charged at him with his fists raised for a punch.

"What did you do to her you bastard?"

"Hitomi," said the man calmly, as Jiro quickly closed the distance between them. "Get rid of this pest."

Jiro felt an impact at his side, and went flying into the wall of the gate. Hitomi had kicked him.

"Yes father."

XXX

A/n: Next time, what did this man do? How can they overcome it? And most importantly, how can they fight their own friend? For once, Jiro doesn't have a plan.


	10. Mind Made Up

**Mind Made Up**

The situation was grim. Hitomi had apparently betrayed her teammates in favor of her father, and was now heading back to the village. If she succeeded in getting her way, they might never see her again…

"Hitomi why? Don't you recognize me?"

"Uchiha bitch! How dare you hit Jiro!"

Hayato rushed towards Hitomi in the Jyuken stance. "Byaku-"

"Hayato don't!"

He stopped with a bewildered look on his face. "She kicked you into a wall, and you don't want me to hurt her?"

"When I looked into that man's eyes, my mind became clouded. I'm sure that is what happened to Hitomi! Her actions are not her fault."

"Well, well, well," muttered Uchiha, Atushi. "You resisted my jutsu. No one has ever done that without a Sharingan before. Then again, you weren't the target; you only received a fraction of the effect my daughter received. So what do you think of my Total Hypnotic Eye Jutsu? I made it myself, an extension of the Sharingan's Hypnotic Eye Genjutsu. Normally the Hypnotic Eye can only pull of minor suggestions, things the enemy might do any way, making it good for nothing except subtle influence of the flow of battle. But this technique uses the link between the mind of the Sharingan user and the victim of his Hypnotic Eye Jutsu to establish total control over the victims mind."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because the technique is so powerful that even if you know it is coming, know exactly how it works, and can even use the technique yourself, you can't block it. The only thing that can stop it is Sharingan, but you can't use it if I don't tell you to after I hit you with the jutsu. So you have to be using it **before** I activate my technique or you're doomed. And none of you can use Sharingan."

"Jiro, we have to stop her!" cried out Hayato in vain. Jiro would not hurt his friend.

"As soon as this battle is done, I'm going to make her spin a sad tale of an enemy ambush, and how they had killed you before her very eyes. Hitomi, kill them."

"Yes father."

_No, there's no way to stop this jutsu! But I can't hurt her, not after she offered me friendship, laid her life on the line for me against Masato. Not after she trusted me…_

"Hitomi, you don't want to do this."

She made three hand signs. "Ninja Art: Sink Into the Abyss."

The ground around Jiro seemed to be sinking. He tried to escape, but clawed hands came up from the ground and held him in place. The sky was turning red, and the earth beneath his feet grew hotter.

_Its just Genjutsu, it can't kill me. But while I'm lost in my own mind, she might! I can't move my hand to make hand signs, can't focus my chakra!_

He sank deeper and deeper into the ground, until his head was submerged. For a terrifying moment, he couldn't breath, and he forgot that it wasn't real. Then his head sank all the way to the other side, and it only got worse. He saw around him a seen of fire, smelled the brimstone. He looked down to the clawed hands, only to discover that they belonged to demons who measured over seven feet high. An imp came up to his face, and spat in his eye.

"Welcome to hell."

XXX

All was darkness, Hitomi didn't know where she was, who she was, what she had been. She couldn't shake this feeling of being completely and utterly alone. She couldn't bear to be alone.

Then a voice shone through the darkness. It said, "Well done Hitomi. Now finish them off."

The voice was the one thing she remembered completely, everything else was less than a dream. She didn't remember what it had told her to do, couldn't remember who it belonged to, but most importantly, when it was around she couldn't remember what it was like to be alone. She would do anything for the voice, laugh with it, cry with it, steal for it, and even kill her own father for it. But the voice never asked anything of her, nothing more than to play a little game. She couldn't remember what the game was about, but she knew it was fun, and it made the voice happy. The voice she would laugh with, cry with, steal for, or even kill her own father for a mere whisper.

Who was her father? She couldn't remember him, but she felt as if it might not be as big a deal as she had thought it would be to kill him for the voice. Hadn't he done something unforgivable to her, ask something of her that she could not give? If only she could remember…

"What are you waiting for, do it!"

The voice had interrupted her thoughts, what were they again? Oh well, they weren't important. Who cared about something as trivial as thinking anyway? What really mattered was that the voice had been angry. What was it that it had wanted her to do again? "Do what, father."

What a silly word, father. What did it mean? She hadn't the faintest idea, but something told her it was important.

"Kill them Hitomi, kill them!"

Hitomi, wasn't that her name? Yes, she thought it was. Suddenly she had a name. Did other things have names too?

"Kill what father?"

"The children, the ones I told you to kill."

She felt this horrible pain in her eyes, a burning that wouldn't stop. It seemed to bring her attention to focus. "Kill what children?"

The voice began to sound suspicious. "The boys, the filthy Hyuga! Hayato and Jiro!"

The things in their game had a name now, and so did she. The burning her eyes just wouldn't go away. But the things had names, didn't that make them important? Weren't they more important than the nameless voice?

"Damn it girl, this is your father talking to you! Kill them!"

She felt betrayed; the voice she would kill her own father for **was** her father! But did it matter? They had promised nothing. She could just as easily kill her mother if it wanted her to. Yet she held on to this feeling of betrayal, felt that it was important. The pain in her eyes flickered between sharp and dull.

"Kill them!"

"N-No father."

The pain stopped flickering, becoming sharp, but she fought past it.

"Kill them!"

"No!"

XXX

The world around Jiro vanished. The injuries, the pain, the blood, all of it went away. He was instantly back in the world of the living, but how?

_How have I been brought back from the dead?_

Amidst the pain, the torture, and the fire, Jiro had forgotten that he was not really dead. He forgot that what he saw was nothing more than Genjutsu, his mind had abandoned his last bit hope what had seemed like ages ago. Slowly, he came back to his senses, and opened his eye.

What he saw was nothing short of amazing. A large amount of energy seemed to be gathering in Hitomi's eyes.

"What is this?" cried Atsushi. "No, impossible, I'm in control here!"

Hitomi's voice was shaky, "N-no, you're n-not!"

Her eyes changed.

"Sharingan!"

She fell to the ground panting.

"How did you manage to break my control?"

"How could you do that to your own daughter?" She got up, her Sharingan still gazing with malice. "I thought I was going to die in that place, alone, without even the slightest idea who I was. And you know what sickens me the most? When your voice ordered to do something, it felt like I had finally found a friend! I'll never forgive you."

She formed three hand signs. "Ninja Art: Sink Into the Abyss!"

The moment stretched out for a long, painful time, and then there was a laugh. "Haha, ha ha ha ha! Foolish girl, your Genjutsu is useless against the Sharingan!"

"Maybe, but this isn't."

Jiro gave out a cry of joy. "Masato!"

"Sorry I'm late, traffic was murder. Now then, Mr. Uchiha, do you feel my finger on your back? Hope you do, because if so, you know it is pointed strait at your heart, at an angle aiming well above the heads of **my** Genin."

"What do you plan to do?"

"Do? I plan to kill you if you so much twitch, unless I tell you to. Are you partial to anything, I prefer lightning myself."

"For what reason do you plan to kill me?"

"You're lucky you didn't twitch. My student, Hitomi, did not posses Sharingan yesterday, or even this morning. Now she does, indicating that her life, or those of those close to her, was threatened to a degree that only the Sharingan could save the lives at stake. Congratulations, you made yourself more of a threat to my students than I was, and we did the bell test."

"Sardonic bastard."

"Don't tempt me."

"It is not your place to judge whether or not a ninja dies, unless it is part of your mission. I am not your mission. On what authority, or even what evidence, do you threaten me?"

"That would be mine."

A man walked out from behind Masato.

Jiro whispered the name, "Sasuke."

"As the world's foremost expert on Sharingan, I except Masato's evidence. However, you are my responsibility. Want to play a game?"

Masato walked away from Atsushi, while Sasuke disappeared and reappeared behind Atsushi's back.

Surprised, Atsushi said, "So fast!"

"The game is a race, to your new home, jail. If you win, you get to live inside your own personal cell for the rest of your life. If I ever catch up to you before then, you get hit by a very powerful, very pissed off Lightning Edge!

"The race starts, now. Sharingan!"

Atsushi ran for his life, while Sasuke made hand signs, and placed his hand toward the ground.

"Chidori!"

A ball of focused lightning the size of an average human's torso formed in Sasuke's hand, with a ton of energy over flowing. He gave chase at full speed, until they were out of sight.

"The Chidori, so powerful…" said Jiro in awe.

"Well time to go, "said Masato, "to the former country of the sound."

XXX

A/N: Next time, how to find a place when you have no idea where it is? Seems pretty straightforward, but is it too risky? What is Jiro's plan?


	11. Laying Down a Plan

**Laying Down a Plan:**

"Man Hitomi, that Genjutsu, was insane!" said Hayato, suppressing his still fading pain with a nervous laugh. The team had been walking for hours, and Hayato was the first to say anything, besides Jiro, who had explained the situation to their sensei. It had taken a while for the tension to die down.

"Yes, my father's technique was-"

"I think he's talking about yours," Jiro interjected. "And I don't mean the Sharingan."

"Yes," she sighed, "I didn't mean to reveal it in such a way. I had been working on it for a while, and after our performance against Masato-sensei, I realized that I needed to become stronger, so I worked hard, and then…"

The mentioned Jonin walked well ahead of the group, this was about to become personal, not something he was good at being.

"Man, that was…intense. I was particularly impressed by the realism of the red hot chain whips."

Hayato shuddered. "My **favorite** part was the thumbscrews in the eyes…"

"Listen guys, I'm sorry, I wasn't myself! I didn't mean to-"

"I was **impressed**."

At Jiro's words, Hitomi descended into a stunned silence. Who was this man, who could endure hell, and come out smiling at her? And who was she, to have failed so miserably? Was he the same Jiro? Was she the same Hitomi?

"It's just," he tried to speak, but found the words leaving his mind. "I'm impressed, at your ability to improve. It must be the blood of the Uchiha."

She smiled, it was meant to be a compliment. And it was. "Don't forget, you have the blood too."

"Yes, but my blood is only half, impure…"

He clutched at his heart.

"And the other half is like mine." Hayato tried to lighten the mood with his voice. It didn't help. "If you have the blood of both, maybe the blood is better than pure."

"No, I'm not an Uchiha, or a Hyuga. I'm something else."

He reached towards the memories in his mind, ones of the face unscarred by the fate of a Shinobi. A woman who had for years been the only one to love him. His mother who was not his mother, but loved him all the same.

"I'm not an Uchiha, or a Hyuga. I'm a Kimura!"

XXX

"Hayato was in the lead, scouting ahead with his Byakugan. Hitomi was placed a little farther back, for little other reason than to keep her separate from Hayato. Masato and Jiro were in the back, talking in low whispers for privacy.

"Ok," said Jiro, "it seems to be my job to analyze the situation and come with a strategy, but from what I know of you, you might be able to help. What do we know about the team's abilities?"

Masato collected the data in his head. "Well, Hitomi is a brilliant Genjutsuist with Sharingan of the second level. You and Hayato are both Taijutsuists, each with Byakugan. You are faster and have more stamina than Hayato, but have no training in Jyuken. And, that's about all I got."

"Actually, I consider myself more of a Ninjutsuist. After all, my specialty is my Long Arm Jutsu, and like Hitomi, I also have a new technique."

"A new Ninjutsu?"

"Yes, it was almost ready yesterday, and I might have been able to pull it off if I tried really hard, and had no other choice. Then again, it would have made no difference."

"Then it's an elemental Jutsu?"

"Yes and a good one at that. But let's not spoil the surprise. Now then, our immediate problem is infiltrating the facility. This gives rise to two more problems, finding it, and actually remaining undetected." Jiro paused to think, jumping in a steady pace as he did so.

"Ok, I got it. The biggest problem is the color of our eyes; Hayato and I stand out like sore thumbs. Sore thumbs that scream Konoha Ninja. So we need a solution."

"Just use Transformation Jutsu."

"No, we need to hide our use of the Byakugan while we're in the base, and that won't be easy with what I have in mind."

"So what do you propose?"

XXX

About an hour later, Jiro and the others stopped to make a camp. He called for their attention, and immediately there was silence.

"Ok, we need to know how to find this place, and we need to hide our Byakugan while there. The first part is simple; we disguise ourselves as normal civilians, refugees heading for the boarder, after we penetrate deep enough into Rice territory. They should find us, and take use to their hide out of their own free will."

Hayato nodded, most of the plan was straightforward. However, he still had a few questions. "Wait, why would they capture use? Don't they only capture unsupervised children?"

"Yes, so Masato will be separated from the main group."

Masato's eyes widened at this prospect. But before he could object, Hayato continued, "But won't they recognize use as Shinobi?"

"Not if we hide our eyes. While Hitomi should be perfectly fine on her own, we aren't so lucky. We could use Transformation Jutsu to hide our eyes, but that would not help us hide the fact that we are using Byakugan when we need to do so in order to complete our mission. So instead, we will wear blindfolds."

"What!"

Jiro produced two bands of cloth that looked like they were meant to be wrapped around open wounds, probably procured from his medical kit. "If we wrap these around our heads, maybe add some fake blood, and spin a small tale, we should be able to convince them that we were injured in the war. That way we can hide our eyes and still use Byakugan."

"Hold on," interrupted Masato. "Who said anything about letting you three go in alone? I forbid it!"

"But, Masato-sensei-"

"No, I will hear none of it! Did you even stop to think that the Bingo Book alone has dozens of Jonin level ninja unaccounted for?"

"Yes, but you have a different job to do on this mission. Your job is to provide a distraction." Jiro produced a map of the world. "We will enter the target area through the neighboring country to the left." He traced the path he spoke of with his finger. "The country isn't a Shinobi nation of note, and we are also on good terms with them, so we should not encounter any interference. Once we have made all traces of connection to Konoha and our mission incomprehensible in this manner, we will proceed to head back towards the country we entered from. This is when we plan on being captured, and according to our limited data, it is the spot where most captures took place, meaning this is area here," he traced a square area with his finger, "is the place we will most likely be captured."

"So we get captured," sighed Hitomi. "Then what?"

"Hold on, I'll get to that. Firstly, Masato is to separate from the main group well before this, as we enter the country of rice. He is to use his ninja art of stealth training to hide his presence as he follows the group. Once we are captured, sensei will follow use, hidden in the shadows, and record the coordinates of our location on his map. He will then estimate the time it would take him to reach the base from Konoha, and shall remain idle until a day less than that same amount of time has passed."

"I get, so you want me to play the part of an independent ninja mission, unrelated to you three, why?"

"Simple, you're the distraction. The ninja, if there is one, should be suspecting Konoha to take interest by now. You are to attack the enemy base, but do try to lose, ok? I want you to use no more than two elements, three tops, in order to look like an average Jonin. Then I want you to attack them, several times over the course of three days. And I want you to let yourself be driven back each time, but try not to be to obvious. On the first day of your attack, we will begin gathering information, or at least that will be when we start using Byakugan. At that point I should become obvious that we could not have been involved, because it took you a day less than it should have to find them if we **had** been involved, and that's if they assumed that we had some way of instantly communicating with Konoha. On the fourth day, we grab the girl, and return her to her parents, and you come in to destroy the base with your full fury, Masato. If there are more bases, we'll, hopefully, find out before then, and then we'll report to the Hokage. Mission, successfully completed."

Masato had to admit, despite next to no knowledge of the enemy, Jiro's plan should work, and with minimal risk to the Genin.

"Okay then," said Masato, "we should be able to reach the boarder between the two countries in five days. We were allowed seven days for travel, fourteen days for achieving the mission goals, and another seven days to get back to Konoha. We should be done within less than a month."

Hayato didn't like that. "A month!"

"Yes a month, you going to cry about it. We start now, Genin, lets get moving!"

XXX

A/N: Well, that was very, wordy, lots of explanation, and no action. Still, now that that's out of the way, we can get on with the mission.

By the way, this early update marks a special occasion. My family and I are going on a short road trip, and I will not be able to update on Friday. So this is a replacement for that update. Expect the scedual to go back to normal by next week.

Next time on Heritage, the team has seven days to get to the country, and they make it in five. What do you think they should do with the final five days? Well, I know what they're going to do…


	12. Rematch

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the late update! As soon as we came back from our road trip, we started packing. Incidentally, that is what the trip was about, scouting out our new house two states away. I made setting up the office a high priority, and it was still a miracle I got the internet to work as soon as I did. I haven't been able to type or anything! Sorry, no bright side, no silver lining, only apologies. Updates should go back to normal (no promises), but I think I'll make the chapters longer, and with everything being so hectic, I may have to get back to you on that. I swear, we intended to leave after Friday, but we ran a little late…

**Rematch**

It was almost time for the true mission to begin. Having given themselves seven days to reach the boarder between the two countries, they had made it in five. Just as Jiro predicted, the boarder patrol had posed no challenge. Now with time to spare, the three students and one Sensei were setting up camp for their final night together.

"Jiro, I want to talk to you," said Hayato as he finished setting up the tent.

Jiro could tell from his tone that he had a serious concern on his mind. "What is it?"

"I, I don't think I'm strong enough for this mission."

Jiro almost let out a gasp; this was the first time Hayato had ever shown any sign of weakness. "But, why, I don't get it. You're Mr. big bad Hyuga aren't you? So act like one! No Hyuga has ever worried about his mission being to hard. You're all a bunch of overly confident geniuses aren't you? So genius, act like one!"

Hayato, remained silent for a moment, and Jiro wondered if he had gone too far. "Fight me Jiro."

"What?"

"Tomorrow morning, another sparring match. You promised me one when we returned, but now… I need to face it sooner. Fight me!"

_That revelation, it really shook you up didn't it Hayato? Those stupid weights… And then you failed to do anything to Masato, or Atsushi._

Jiro couldn't refuse; this was a match of honor.

XXX

Masato sighed. It was the morning of the sixth day, and his Genin were about to waste part of their head start. Oh well, it would be over quick.

"The rules," he said, "are simple. Pure Taijutsu, a repeat of the Genin Exam. You may supplement your Taijutsu with chakra, such as with the Long Arm Jutsu or Jyuken, but must not use any of your Ninjutsu or Genjutsu."

The two competitors got into their respective fighting stances, each with an active Byakugan. Jiro had long since handed over his weighted vest to Masato; this match was to be a clash between the true strength of the students. So far, Hayato didn't seem to stand a chance.

"Begin!"

Hayato rushed Jiro, attempting a couple of strikes with Jyuken to his tenketsu But Jiro merely side stepped his attack, and vanished, reappearing to the left of Hayato, and launching a kick.

Hayato blocked the attack, but only to receive another attack to his back in return. Jiro was easily overwhelming Hayato with his speed, as Hayato slowly wore himself out blocking each kick Jiro sent at him.

_And he isn't even displaying half the speed that he showed me in our match._

"What's wrong Hayato," smiled a completely unharmed Jiro as he temporarily stopped his onslaught. "Hey genius, shouldn't you be able to land a hit?"

"Bastard!"

Hayato launched a rage fueled attack against Jiro, aiming for his vital areas. But his anger blinded him to the facts; Jiro easily got behind Hayato, and launched a kick against his back. Completely unprepared for the counter attack, Hayato took the full force of the attack to his spine. He went flying, landing on his face, unable to get up.

_That kick should have sent him flying much farther,_ thought Jiro. _He's incredibly heavy!_

He didn't want to finish Hayato off so soon, there was more to life than victory. Hayato held great strength in his pure force of will; it wasn't Jiro's place to crush that strength. So he decided to delay the inevitable.

"I could tell from the look in your eyes Hayato, at the beginning of the match. You wanted to know why I decided to waste chakra on the Byakugan, right. Well, I'll tell you. Normal people can't see what their doing at speeds like this, everything's a blur, and they have to learn to fight on pure instinct, until their eyes learn to keep up, unless they have Sharingan of course. But I don't have Sharingan, so I came up with something else. Using the fifty meter radius of my Byakugan's sight, I can see what I am doing while moving at this speed, as long as it wasn't outside that radius when I moved. You're within fifty meters of me genius, get it?"

Hayato still hadn't gotten up from the last kick.

Masato sighed. "Okay, this is pathetic. I declare Jiro the-"

"Wait!"

Hayato had finally gotten up, making a movement as if to rub dirt from his eyes. But Jiro knew better, Hayato was within the fifty meter radius. His face wasn't dirty, it was wet, and so as the ground it had been on.

"I can still fight!" he panted in rage.

"Hayato," began Jiro, "you can't do this. I can already tell that you're in pain genius."

"Shut up! You don't know anything! No one beats a Hyuga in Taijutsu, nobody!"

Jiro sighed. The war against Hayato's ego raged on.

Hayato smiled. "I was holding back until now you know. No more of that."

Hayato reached down to his legs, and began to remove something.

_Wait a minute!_ _I've only been using the Byakugan for the field of vision. What if he…_

Jiro didn't have to begin using the piercing gaze, in a few seconds it had become obvious what was going on.

_There was an hour in which we bought supplies for the trip. He bought…_

Hayato removed the weights from his ankles and arms.

"So, you decided to become faster? Well, it won't mater; small weights like those won't do any-"

Hayato dropped them to the ground, and they created huge craters!

"Don't underestimate me Jiro. With these weights gone, I've become faster than you!"

He vanished into thin air, and reappeared behind Jiro.

_So fast… Even I'm not that fast!_

"Eight trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms! Two Strikes! Four Strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes! Thirty-two Strikes! Sixty-Four Strikes!"

Jiro fell to the ground, unable to move.

"But how? How could you block off all my chakra when you only hit me one-hundred twenty-eight times?"

"The circulatory system is a large grid of chakra points. By cutting off the flow to specific areas, I stopped your chakra from moving anywhere near freely enough to matter. You can still draw chakra from small areas of your body, but at the Genin level, you can't draw enough chakra from such small areas to perform any sort of Jutsu. I would still have to stop the flow in every tenketsu for ninja of higher levels, but for all it matters, you're finished!"

_I can't move, how did he get so fast, so quickly?_

"By the way Jiro, look down with your Byakugan."

Jiro complied, and was shocked by the consequences. _No way!_

Hayato smiled, "That's right; my weights sank **below** **the fifty meter radius**!"

XXX

The group was packing up, Jiro having long since been put back to normal by Hayato. Said Hayato was still having a lot of trouble getting his weights out of the incredibly deep, yet also incredibly thin hole in the ground.

Masato, who was to be put in charge of all their shinobi weapons (including the weights), was inevitably grumpy about his role in the mission being reduced to little more than Pack Mule.

"Hurry the hell up Hayato!"

Jiro decided to use the time to answer some of the questions Hitomi was invariably about to have.

"Ok, first of all, how the hell could he of lifted those heavy things the whole way here, when he hasn't so much as lifted a stupid two ounce weight on his body his entire life?"

Jiro had been thinking about these things himself, and believed he had come up with some answers. "First of all, you'd have to ask Hayato, but I know how I would have done it. He focused chakra to his arms/legs with chakra, like how you can focuse chakra to your feet to jump higher, making the effective weight of the thing much less."

"How did he not create some indication on the ground, or break the branches of the trees we had been jumping on, on the way over here?"

"Again, by focusing chakra at his feet on contact with the ground, he can lessen the impact. It's actually quite the strategy, the weights are already training his speed and stamina, the use of chakra actually increases the effect on his stamina (though it counteracts some of the benefit from the weights when he was using it to get used to the weight), and allows him to train his chakra control, all at the same time."

"Well, you've effectively suspended my disbelief. Has Hayato gotten the weights out yet?"

It would seem so (and Jiro noticed the hole in the ground had gotten a lot wider). He was currently having an argument with Masato. He couldn't really hear it from where he stood, but it seemed to Jiro that Masato didn't want to have to carry those "heavy ass things", and Hayato was trying to get him to "stop being such a whiney turd, and just use your chakra!"

A couple of minutes latter, after Hayato eventually won the argument, Jiro assembled the four shinobi.

"Ok, Hayato, here's your bandages."

Jiro handed Hayato a large bundle of effectively bloody looking bandages to wrap around his face. He of course, had to wrap some around his own eyes as well. The deed was done, and Jiro was effectively blind.

"Guys, I can't tell, did I get the blood stained part over the right part of my face?"

"Yes," said Hitomi, "but Hayato didn't. You need to adjust it a little to the left."

Hayato, muttering a few curses, quickly adjusted his bandages. Jiro could tell he had, because these things were wrapped really tight, and from the increase in volume of Hayato's foul mouth, something painful had to be happening.

"Ok, got the effin little thing…"

"Good, we're heading into enemy territory, so we'll have to wear these things for a while now. Ok then, everyone remember the plan?"

Everyone nodded their head, but of course Jiro couldn't see it.

"Wait, how could you forget the plans? I mean, I thought I want over it a thousand-"

"We remember the plan Jiro; you just can't see use nodding our heads."

Jiro blushed. "Ok then, let's go."

He began jumping towards his goal, or so he thought.

"Jiro, you're going the wrong way!"

Oh this was going to be quite the mission.

Hitomi came up to him, and helped point him in the right direction.

"You know, Hayato's cheating. He must be using his Byakugan."

Jiro was alarmed. "Wait, wait, wait! How can you tell?"

"Don't worry; it's just his ability to tell where he's going. He's cheating… just like he did in that battle. Sixty-Four Palms was too good of a technique, no one could have anticipated-"

Jiro sighed. "Don't go there Hitomi. Don't let your competitive Uchiha loyalty blind you. There is no cheating in war. Besides, you weren't using Sharingan. Otherwise you would have seen it."

"Seen what?"

"That wasn't the true Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms. I've seen it done before, by a Hyuga Jonin. It requires you to focus chakra, though I'm not certain on the specific control, into your arms." He looked at her skeptical look. "I was using Byakugan at the time. Anyway, I think it helps you speed up beyond your limit. But he didn't focus any chakra beyond normal Jyuken."

Hitomi's eyes widened.

"That's right. That was his **true speed**."

Without a word, she was too shocked to speak, she directed him towards the others. But Jiro had to reflect the last part of the day's events so far to himself alone.

_If the battle from before was his only reason to respect me, then what will stop him from hating me now?_

XXX

A/N: Next time, Jiro begins to get used to being blind as the Genin head back toward the boarder. But then the plan goes into action.

Also, I read a review at this point that suggested giving Jiro a unique way of talking, so I gave him a tendency to call people a genius to emphasize his sarcastic speaking style. Any feed back on this change would be welcome.

One more thing. Masato can combine multiple elements, as seen by his use of Wood and Ice Jutsu during the Genin exam. I have ideas for what different combinations can do, but some of them may be a stretch. In particular, I need ideas for Lightning Water, and Water Fire. I want there to be a theme for elements that are weak to each other in some way. The theme is that the element that is stronger against one element removes an aspect of the element in order to create a new element, essentially purifying the weaker element. Like I said, I have ideas for all of them, but if you give me a good idea, I will use it instead (you have been warned). All credit will be given to the sources (if you give an idea I already had, you still get an honorable mention). Decisions are not based on how many reviewers like the idea, this isn't a vote. I make the final decision, this is just a call for help.


	13. Invasion

**Invasion**

It was the morning of the third day, and Jiro was just waking up. A sigh followed this inevitability. He had a lot on his mind.

Hayato hadn't spoken in days, which was very unusual for him. Usually he'd be boasting about how weak Jiro was in comparison to himself, or complaining about how itchy his bandages were. As things were, Jiro hadn't t the slightest clue about what his friend was thinking, he just kept himself separate from the group. Jiro could only hope that they were still friends.

Hitomi came over to his side unexpectedly. Jiro could tell because over the course of the last few days, he had grown accustomed to her footsteps. Light and gingerly disposed, she was the exact opposite of Hayato, who stomped around like an elephant in comparison. Jiro actually found the whole phenomena fascinating, which only served to frustrate him more in his attempts to master this art of seeing with your ears. He still had some problems with it.

"What is it Hitomi?"

They had been traveling in enemy territory for one and a half days before turning back, and had now been heading towards the boarder for half a day. Even if they kept a slow pace, slow even by non-Shinobi standards, they would be there by nightfall.

"We're being followed.

XXX

"Sir! We have an inteligunce report. 'E says there's a couple 'o good candidates there."

The man referred to as Sir sighed at the other man's accent. It made him sound like a half brain-dead caterpillar in terms of intellect. Especially when he said "inteligunce" instead of "intelligence," which had nothing to do with an accent. He was just that stupid. Calling him a completely brain-dead caterpillar would have been a compliment.

"Should we be goin' to get'em?"

"No, we need to think about this for a minute. There's always a fifty percent chance that the useful slaves are Shinobi. Suppose it's lucky for you that I'm doing the thinking, doing it yourself might make your head implode."

The man didn't quite understand what was just said to him, he didn't know any of the words longer than a signal syllable. Still, he understood an insulting tone, and flexed his muscles threateningly. These had already looked as if they might burst out of his skin to begin with, and no they looked positively ready to explode.

"Youze better not beze calling me dumb! I hate bein' called dumb!"

The other man was in trouble if things continued to follow the set path. He was short, while the other man was almost seven feet tall. Where as the man in front of him looked to be exploding with muscle, he was bursting with lard. The fat man's only other distinguishing characteristics were the fact that he was the only intelligent non-Shinobi of the Organization, and his unkempt mustache, which was singed profusely at the edges. He had obtained his singed mustache in an argument with the leader, a man referred to only as "Master." Hell fire burned, a lot.

"Okay, okay, calm down! Tell you what, you calm down here, I'll go look at the marks, see if they are any good. Ok?"

The muscle man nodded, and fatso snuck his way over to the bushes near the target's camp. Bushes were always a good way to go unnoticed, no matter how many times you get snuck up on; you never seem to check the bushes. So, naturally, the fat man used this to his advantage.

His first observation was that there were three of them, one girl and two blind men. One of the blind men was separating himself from the others, as if he felt they were beneath him. The fat man decided to examine them each individually.

The first blind man was the one nearest to the girl. All was as it should be with this one; he relied completely upon the girl to direct him, as a blind man might. This meant he was recently blinded. Of course that was obvious from the blood stains on the bandages and his pants, which had the look of blood that was unquestionably fresh. His appearance also betrayed no hints of being an enemy. He wore dark green cloths, a t-shirt and shorts, both of which were the same color. No real Shinobi would be caught dead like that where the fat man came from, the village of Sunagakure, because they would be too easy to catch, which would kill them. His sandals were standard for Shinobi, as were all the children's, but this was of no concern, the fat man himself wore similar sandals, they were common enough. What really struck him was how the boy was so strong, despite a large blood loss indicated by the bandages and bloodstains. Once he recovered, he'd be a titan among slaves!

Then there was the girl. Being the pervert he was, the lecherous tube of jelly first admired her chest. Hey, it was a nice view after all, and the viewings were as nice as any girl's her age could be. Still, jelly belly wasn't really in to children, so he moved on to the rest of her. She wore a blue blouse with white Capri's, and of course, Shinobi sandals. Overall she wasn't very suspicious looking. He only wished he could bring her back with them, there was little doubt in his mind that she'd grow up to be a great concubine, but the Master wasn't interested in such things. If he disobeyed the master, it would be more than his mustache that was singed next time.

Then there was the other blind boy, very suspicious. To start with, he seemed to know exactly where he was going at all times, even to the point of picking up his backpack off the ground without seeing it! If he was blind for a longer period of time than the blood would indicate, it might be less suspicious, but this was not the case. Physical evidence always overruled conjecture. Then there were his cloths. He wore nothing but the darkest black, common for any given Shinobi, as they tended to act at night. To top it all off, while his friends (or perhaps associates, they didn't act very friendly towards each other) each had relatively common haircuts; this boy wore his hair in a type of topknot known as the Chonmage. This was a very old fashion style, only Hyuga were known to wear it anymore, and even then they were few and far between. All in all, this boy was a red flag saying "Oh shit! Shinobi!" But they were desperate for slaves, and he was just as miraculously strong as the other blind boy. He would have to do.

XXX

Hitomi was getting fed up at this point. It was just so obvious to any real ninja that the man was hiding in the bushes, and she could have sworn she had caught him looking at her chest! Still, Jiro had a plan; they were following it through to the end.

"Ok you three, time to stop now."

The fat man had finally chosen to abandon his spot in the bushes in favor of challenging them directly. This would have been foolish even if he did think he was facing nothing but non-Shinobi, except that he had backup. Two men who were identical, one carrying a pitchfork and the other carrying a club, were at his back. They looked… difficult.

"You two come with me. And you…" He paused for a second here. "I don't know; go stand in a corner somewhere or something. Get lost."

_Wait, you two? He wants to separate us?_

"I won't let you take my brothers." She inwardly cringed at calling a Hyuga her brother, but at least Jiro wasn't so bad.

"Listen, go away. I don't care how pretty you are, slavery is not for you. Useless."

It was Jiro who spoke up this time. "Slavery! Than you three are part of the," he faked a gulp, "Organization?"

"To you I am, to me I am not. We have a name you know."

_This is bad. Jiro said not to let them separate us at all costs._

She recalled to her immediate memory the exact conversation, making sure she fully understood.

XX

_She had been holding Jiro's hand, literally and figuratively, through there set path when he had spoken in here ear._

"_Listen Hitomi, I need you to know something. There is a high likelihood that they might try to separate us. This must be avoided, no matter what!"_

"_If they don't want to take one of us, what can we do?"_

_Jiro sighed at this. "We'll have to be a little less subtle."_

XXX

She decided it was worth another shot, just to be on the safe side. "Please sir, you can't!"

"Shut the hell up! Honestly, going on and on, reminds me why I never got married. You're too weak, we don't need you."

_Weak huh?_ She scoffed to herself. _They don't know who they're messing with!_

She kicked a large stone into the air as the man with the pitchfork walked past her towards Hayato.

"So boy, youze gotze to go with me now."

Hitomi kicked the rock with an astonishing amount of force.

Hayato noticed this out of the corner of his Byakugan.

"Any last wordze?"

Had she aimed for the pitchfork, a muscleman, the leader? No, she had aimed for a tree.

"Yes, duck."

"Wha-"

The stone hit a tree branch, one around three times Hitomi's size, and snapped it off with a thunder crack. The stone bounced off the tree trunk, and continued its flight, straight into the pitchfork man's head.

"Oof!"

He fell backwards to the ground, as Hitomi Jumped into the air. She jumped over Hayato's head, with the amazing ability only a ninja could posses. She grabbed the branch, which was only now starting to fall, with both hands, and slammed it into the foe's chest.. The branch was so wide that the results were brutal, an abdomen with no chest, a head with no neck. Her eyes were a bright crimson.

"Beat that!"

Then she heard the man with the club's savage voice in reply to her taunt.

"Daisuke! You Bitch!"

He ran towards her with his club raised to strike. Even without Sharingan, it would have been painfully obvious that he planed to do a downwards vertical slash. Hitomi casually held up her branch with the intent to block.

Only to have it shattered upon contact with the club.

"Holy!" She barely managed to dodge in time after that, jumping back towards the tree whose branch she had barrowed. Meanwhile Jiro was completely unaware of what was happening, except that it was bad.

"Hitomi!"

The man swung wildly towards her, and she jumped to a tree top position. Lucky for her, she had chosen a tree well away from the one at her back. Because when he struck it, it barely got in his way. The tree split in half at the base, and began to fall towards the man with the club. He swiftly got out of its way, as did Hayato, who had been to close for comfort. But Jiro, with his inactivated Byakugan, saw none of this.

"Jiro, get out of the way!"

She couldn't possibly reach him in time.

XXX

Jiro began to feel something against his skin.

_Vibrations? Are these vibrations in the air?_

The tree got closer, and the feeling against his skin grew stronger.

_This, this is unreal! I, I can see? I can see!_

He swiftly used his new found power to dodge the incoming tree. Even with his amazing speed, he barely got out of the way in time; the tree had been inches from his head when he realized to move.

"Jiro, it's over. Take off the bandages," said Hayato. It had been the first words he had spoken in days, but they were cold, detached. It couldn't be any plainer that he hadn't given a damn whether Jiro lived or died.

Jiro's mind quickly took in the situation. Hitomi had obviously done what he had told her to do in the case of the threat of separation. So, he adjusted the plan accordingly.

"Hayato, you take down the muscle man, I'll capture mustache man, and Hitomi can use Genjutsu to get the information we need out of him."

A vein seemed to pop in Hayato's head. "You're lucky I was already planning on doing that Jiro! No one orders me around, you got that? Nobody!"

"Whatever just-"

Hitomi cried out, "Jiro, behind you!"

The fat man was trying to run away, but Jiro didn't have his weights on. He could of easily went to get a cup ramen from the pack, wait for it to cook (a well placed fire Jutsu would help), and catch the man in full nelson before he managed to get so much as three feet away. Still he settled to get the ramen latter.

Hitomi came down from her tree to the man and began to make hand signs.

Meanwhile, Hayato had not been idle. He sent a lazy ax kick to the club man's head, but unencumbered Hayato's version of lazy was still way to fast for the man to dodge, sending him to the ground instantly.

Hitomi finished her hand signs. "Ninja Art: Sink Into the Abyss!"

As the fat man began to scream, the club man had dropped his club in favor of backing away. His slow shuffle across the ground was pathetic.

"No please, don't!"

"Shut up, begging for your life won't help."

"Wait Hayato!" ordered Jiro. "You don't have to kill him, just disable-"

"Stop telling me what to do!"

Hitomi woke up from her Genjutsu induced state of interrogation just in time to see worst of it.

"No, please! I want to live!"

Hitomi and Jiro yelled out at the same time, "Hayato, don't!"

The man's sniveling stopped as Hayato took the stance for Jyuken, and slammed his finger into the man's heart.

"Heart Breaker!"

Hayato twisted his finger ninety degrees, and something strange happened. Hayato had to get quickly out of the way as a huge stream of chakra burst from the man's chest with the force of a hurricane, drowning out his screams in the intense roar. The blast ripped up into the heavens, taking out a large chunk of the forest canopy. Just as quickly as it began, it ended, and sunlight burned down as a spotlight on the body.

Jiro had to check the body. "Byakugan!" He let out a gasp at what he saw.

"What in the name of the Gods just happened?" asked Hitomi in a quiet whisper.

"The twist ripped open the man's chakra circulatory system around a key Tenketsu in the heart. The chakra drained from his body in one sudden burst, leaving none left for himself. His heart isn't beating. Hayato! You went too far!"

Hayato began to head towards he other side of a clearing, and sat on a stump. "I don't have to listen to an Uchiha."

XXX

As Hitomi contemplated the club wielder's last words, and the adrenaline from the battle began to die down, she began to realize the full horror of what had just occurred.

She looked to the corpse Hayato had created, she looked to the fat man who was now foaming at the mouth from her Genjutsu, and the she looked to the mangled body she had given form.

Then she looked to her hands.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Hitomi!" voiced a concerned Jiro.

"Why did it turn out like this? I didn't become a Shinobi to hurt people; I didn't go on this mission to hurt people! I came to save a little girl!"

She collapsed into tears, and even Hayato couldn't stand to look from pity.

"And you still aren't finished. None of us are finished."

"Masato-sensei."

Jiro was correct; it was indeed Masato, who seemed to appear out of no where. It was scary how sneaky he could be when he wanted to."

"We still have a mission. So please give us the coordinates, so we can proceed."

She did, and they proceeded to go. First was Masato, who gave one last look behind him. Then went Hayato, who merely went without a word. Jiro, however, would not leave. He put a comforting hand on Hitomi's shoulder.

"You're not the only one who killed today."

She got up without a word, and almost left the same way, before turning around to mutter a couple of words.

"I don't like hurting people."

She jumped away then, and after a few moments Jiro left behind her, out of the mid-morning sun, and into the dark abyss of the forest, leaving the bodies to rot.

XXX

They saw the tower a mile before they got to the location. It extended well into the sky, so that even the clouds parted before it. Jiro couldn't see the top.

Surrounding the tower was a large stone wall that extended around a perimeter easily the size of Konoha. Facing them was a large metal gate, which was over three stories wide, and was so thick that if you were to lay it flat, it would still extend a whole story into the air.

"Stand back," muttered Masato, and somehow, the students already had. Something about the man just told them that standing near him was a bad idea.

Jiro could here his sensei muttering. "Send Earth through the hands, and then add a small amount of Lightning. Let the Lightning purify the Earth…"

He could tell whatever it was his Sensei was doing it required a lot of concentration. Suddenly he leapt forward, and began to tear chunks of metal off the door with his bare hands.

"Masato-sensei… holy crap!"

When he was done, a large, jagged maw opened before them, easily large enough for two ninja to fit through. So, in pairs (Jiro with Hitomi and Hayato with Masato), they entered the confines of the slave camp.

It was not the first thing they took in, but a very prominent feature of the landscape was that it was a complete wasteland, despite the huge forest just outside those walls. It was also not the first thing noted that there were a multitude of holes in the ground, as if some giant, deranged mole had come and dug up the place. All of this was taken in latter. No, the first thing they noticed was the hundreds of bodies that littered the ground, accounting for more than the reportedly known kidnappings.

The bodies were obviously the victims of some strange disease. Their skin hugged the bones it lay on, revealing a partial glimpse of what the skeleton underneath must have been like. In many cases, the bodies had undergone advance skin necrosis in many areas, giving the impression that they had been dead for weeks when all common sense told a different story. These bodies did not smell of death, they were fresh. A puddle of blood surrounded the heads of each body, and each visible face had a blood stained mouth.

"Byakugan."

None of the bodies were still alive, except for one soul who had not yet succumbed to the disease. A little girl, crying almost fifty meters away.

Jiro rushed over to her as fast as he could, but Hitomi got to her first. She cradled the child in her arms, as a mother would her dieing baby.

"Shhhh. No more tears. Can you tell me what your name is?"

"K-Kokoro."

"That's a pretty name." She hesitated at what she would have to do next, but she was bound by her duty as a Shinobi. "Can you tell me what happened here?"

"They, they all died. They went down into the mine, and every one of them died within a day!"

She began to descend into tears yet again.

"Well," said the ever indifferent Hayato, "at least the target is safe."

"Shut up you little-" Hitomi refrained from using any foul words, for the sake of the child in her arms. "Those people, they must have kept sending these children into the mines, even though they knew these people were dieing…"

Kokoro continued to cry.

"Don't worry Kokoro, I'm here. Everything's going to be ok."

"You don't understand, I was sent to the mine just yesterday."

The girl began to cough profusely into her hand. When she lifted it up, only blood remained.

"No, I-I don't want to die!"

"Masato," yelled Jiro. "Do something."

"What are you looking at me for? I'm no medical ninja!" He began to form a wood clone. "Here, let him take the girl back to the village, it's her only hope!"

Hitomi hastily placed the small little girl in the clones arms, and in a poof of smoke, it was gone.

"To do something like that to a little girl…" Hitomi almost lost herself to her anger. "I'll never forgive them!"

Jiro, Hitomi, Hayato, and Masato proceeded towards the tower, in search of the people responsible for this hell.

XXX

Jiro took a look around the room they had walked into. He couldn't even see the roof. It was a large dark abyss, devoid of all things except for one man, and a large flight of stairs the reached out into the darkness.

"Welcome, can I assume from this visit being so unannounced that you are here to stop us?"

Masato took initiative. "Who are you?"

"My name is Dosato, Kenji."

"Dosato!" exclaimed Hayato. "You, are part of this evil Organization? But, you're a legend."

Jiro was puzzled, "Who's Dosato?"

"You're kidding me! You never heard of Kenji Dosato! And you call yourself a Taijutsuist!"

"I call myself a Ninjutsist."

"Whatever. Look, see that sword on his back?"

It was hard not to, it was easily bigger than the man wielding it. Held at a diagonal angle, the sword was almost touching the ground. Other than its size, Jiro could find nothing special about it.

"That sword is the reason he's famous!"

The man chuckled. "That's right kid. They call me Kenji Dosato, Master of the Zanbato! This here is my Zanbato, Hikari, a sword which can slice a man and his horse in half at the same time. I'm one of the only people who can wield such a sword."

He drew his weapon and gave a laugh.

"I will give you a moment to pray."

"Back off, Dosato!" cried out Masato. "If anyone should be praying, it is you."

"Interesting, it seems you have a death wish. Tell me, why do you seek us out?"

Masato replied again, "We were charged to gather information on your Organization. With stealth no longer being an option, we have to extract it by force."

"Is that so? Then let me inform you. One piece, before you die. My mission is to guard the entrance. This tower has four levels, including the rooftop. Inside the tower are three Shinobi, including myself, who are there to stop you from getting to the top. We are supposed to kill at least one of you, the rest may go on. But I should warn you, the Master is at the top. He is not someone to be trifled with; the Gods themselves tremble at his command. Defeat him, and he will tell you what you need to know."

"Very well," said Masato. "I'll be your opponent."

Masato began making hand signs. What Kenji didn't know was that these signs were not for his Jutsu, but rather to give non-verbal commands to the Genin. He was signaling an attack from behind.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Masato fired off his imitation of the technique, with devastating results. The enemy was completely engulfed in flames.

Only to bat them away with the tip of his sword.

"Chakra? Useless! My sword is resistant to chakra."

Jiro, Hitomi, and Hayato all attacked him from behind at once, each with a Kunai held firmly in their grip. But they were blocked with the flat of his blade, and flung from it against the far wall.

"I assume you have repented. Your sins will not go unpunished if you have not."

He rushed over towards the Genin with his sword raised. He gave a great cleave.

"Sensei?"

Their master had flung himself in front of the blade at a speed Jiro could only dream of achieving. He had shielded them with his back.

"Sensei!"

"Pipe down Jiro. Do I look dead to you?"

To Jiro's amazement, it was true! Masato had taken a direct hit from the Zanbato; a sword designed to slice a man and his horse in two, and was still standing. He did not even bleed.

"What is this?" roared an enraged Kenji. "How come the sword didn't even make it farther than through your jacket?"

In point of fact Masato had indeed stopped the blade with nothing more than his bare flesh.

"Sensei," remarked Jiro. "Is this how you came back from your missions without a scratch?"

Masato choose not to respond to this.

"Who are you," bellowed Kenji.

"Kamitaka, Masato."

"It can not be." Kenji staggered a couple of steps back in surprise. "Are you the one they call 'The Shinobi God of Konoha'?"

"Yes that is my title. But I am not a God."

"Well, well, very interesting. It seems the Gods have brought you to me to strip you of your false title!"

"Listen you three; I need you to go ahead without me. Don't worry; this trash won't take more than three minutes."

Jiro and company nodded, and began to ascend the stairs. But then Jiro had a thought, and called back down the stairs towards Masato.

"Hey sensei! Have… have you ever lost a match!"

Masato contemplated whether or not he should answer, than decided that if nothing else, the truth would set Jiro's heart at ease.

"Many, many times, but only against one man. The only person to ever beat me under my full power was my sensei."

"Your sensei?"

"You know him as the Sixth Hokage, Uzumaki, Naruto."

This answer was more than enough. Jiro ascended beyond the darkness, to the dangers ahead, confident his Sensei would win.

"Heh, heh, heh, very funny Masato," said the wielder of Hikari. "But I suppose you should know, I find it unsporting to strike down unwary Genin. I didn't even swing with one-tenth of my power."

"Well then, this may be interesting. I give you thirty minutes."

XXX

A/N: This chapter was a bit shorter than I would have liked, but it couldn't be helped. I have got to learn to save a bit better. I lost a lot of data in a power outage a few days back, and had to burn the midnight oil to get this done in time. And about the whole Jiro's plan thing, I originally planned to write a whole bunch of angsty scenes involving how horrible life as a slave was, and how the disease was killing people, but found it to be a severe departure from the main plot. All the stuff that would be revealed about or hinted at for the main plot of the story was going to reveal itself in these fights (which were already planned) anyway, so there was no point in all the angsty crap, and I skipped strait to the fighting.

For those of you who are Hitomi fans, this chapter was made to be a bit more Hitomi centered. Actually, I found this point of view to work better for this part, so thank you. Oh, and the next fight goes to Hitomi, expect lots of Sharingan action. She hasn't been challenged to use it yet, after all.

And if you all are wondering about how powerful Kamitaka is, yes he has god-like powers (his title is well deserved). Yes he may be a bit overpowered, but I promise, he won't be getting in the way of Jiro's story (no dues ex machine involving Masato coming to Jiro's rescue from this point on), and in the time he's spending away from Jiro's problems, he'll be occupied by something more than capable of taking him down. And is he undefeatable? No, after all, Naruto has beaten him in every match they have had (and yes, the characters get upgrades, Twenty years is more than enough time to learn new Jutsu).

Next time, Masato gets a face full of Zanbato. But how will he hurt his enemy if he can't overcome the chakra resistance? And what kind of fighter waits on the second floor?


	14. Kamitaka VS Kenji

A/N: A few preliminary abilities of Dosato. He uses a giant sword, called a Zanbato, which he can wield with one or two hands, but his strikes are about twice as strong when using two hands. He has other powers, but to understand what is going on, you really only need to understand this one thing before the battle starts. Let the chapter commence!

**Kamitaka V.S. Kenji**

Masato and Dosato starred at each other from across the room, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Or so Masato thought. But after not ten seconds of closer inspection, Masato realized his opponent had a glazed over look about him, as if the Jonin in front of him wasn't even there. Masato realized exactly what was going on, it was unmistakable. Kenji Dosato was bored.

"Hey you! What's with that look in your eyes? Bored, are you dumb in the head? I'm the one they call a God of Shinobi, and you just act as if I'm not even there?"

"Gee, I wonder why? Go ahead, brood a little, I can wait."

That's when Masato finally understood.

"You bastard! You don't intend to fight me, this is all just a distraction!"

"Yes and no," said the swords man with a smile. "My job is to keep you here as long as possible after all. Why make the first move, and start the battle, when I can wait for you to do it, and waist a little time."

Masato was actually shocked a little by the subtlety of the move. Who would have thought a swordsman, a talent less fool who relied on nothing more than the size of his weapon no less, could come up with a strategy?

He quickly made three hand seals, no point in revealing all his strengths so soon.

"Water style: Twin Water Tower Jutsu!"

Two towering jets of water burst out f the ground, and proceeded to converge upon the target, leaving a decimated trail in its wake. Kenji merely took ten steps forward, the two towers collided, and with him completely out of harms way.

Or so he thought.

A hand reach out from the towers, and grabbed him by the ankles.

"A Water Clone!"

Annoyed beyond belief, the sword user cut the hand off the clone, which dissolved along with the tower. But it was a temporary reprieve at best, as a jet of fire blasted from the mouth of the real Masato, who had taken up a new position at the Zanbato wielder's side. The swordsman blocked, and the fire that hit his blade seemed to instantly disappear as it was absorbed. But Masato was unrelenting, with a metal clone shooting rock attacks from the other side. This series of offenses from Masato, and defensive maneuvers from Kenji seemed to have no ending, as wave after wave of elemental blasts, lightning bolts, and clones all came at the one man with a sword. The man who fought with his oversized blade could do little more than destroy the clones, somehow the real Masato always managed to evade him.

The man wasn't one to be blasted back and forth all day of course, he had a plan. Every attack Masato used was an elemental move, and therefore chakra based. Everyone was being absorbed by the Hikari blade.

Not receiving any openings, Dosato decided to make one. As he quickly absorbed one last attack, a lightning bolt sent from the air above, he quickly grasped his hilt with both hands, and slammed the blade to the ground. A flash of light followed almost instantly.

Masato was blinded by the strike.

"What the hell! No hand signs!"

XXX

The three Genin walked up towards the next entrance with caution. It was unfortunately very reasonable that the next enemy would be much more powerful than Dosato, and with no meat shield to protect them, the prospect looked daunting.

"Stay close," muttered Jiro, as his team mates began to ascend ahead of him.

"Well, well, well, what have we got hear," said a high shrill voice from within the darkness. It was obviously female, but beyond that Jiro had no clue. In the pitch black, it was impossible to find the next flight of stairs, and the voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.

"Dosato didn't kill you? Probably took our orders to seriously again. No one cares if I kill you all."

A brilliant blue butterfly rose out from the ground under Jiro's feet, strait through the solid stone floor.

"But such interesting people!" remarked the voice. "One's a Hyuga, ones an Uchiha, and the last is a Halfling? Marvelous, simply marvelous!"

Jiro took a Kunai in his hand, readying himself for a fight by slipping into a Goken pose. Hayato activated his Byakugan, and slipped into Jyuken position, before remarking "I still can't see past this darkness!" All the while, more and more butterflies arose from the ground at their feet, until the room was a maelstrom of little blue wings. Hitomi activated her Sharingan.

Then Jiro found he was no longer in the darkness, the tower, or the country of sound.

"I'm… home?"

XXX

The tide of battle was flowing in a different direction, as the power of Hikari began to be unleashed.

Masato launched a thunder strike to Dosato's left side, but in one swift motion Kenji both blocked the strike, absorbed, and launched a slash shaped ark of light at his enemy. Masato also dodge, having no idea if he could even absorb or neutralize such an attack, by barrel rolling to the right, exiting the maneuver with a jump kick to his enemy's face, adding fire chakra to increase the affect, and leaving a trail of grey dust in his wake.

This was supposed to result in a physical assault enhanced with a jet of solid flame. Instead, Kenji blocked the attack with what amounted to a flick of the wrist, resulting in a strike to Masato's leg with the flat of his sword which flipped Masato over in mid-air.

As his head went up from being upside down, and was beginning to face the enemy again, he sent out his arm and shot a thrust of lightning. Dosato side stepped the lightning, angling Hikari behind him to allow the attack to be absorbed, and proceeded to catch his now unelectrified arm in a grapple that threatened to crush the bones underneath. With his newfound position of power over Masato, Dosato slammed him into the ground face first, creating a minor crater.

Just before he could attempt to finish the job with Hikari, he felt the electric current begin to run through his arm, and was instantly thrown back with the force of a thunderstorm.

Masato was back on his feet in seconds, and attempt to run away, a strategic retreat to give him time to formulate a new plan.

Dosato gripped thin air with the hand that had grabbed Masato's arm previously, and pulled on the air as if the current might drag Kamitaka to his knees.

The affect was close, a wire that Kenji had placed on Masato's arm during the hold pulled back towards the owner, bring the ninja flying with it. As soon as Masato was in range, Dosato slashed him in the side with Hikari, and directed the hit to slam him strait into the ground next to him, spurring up clouds of grey dust, and shards of solid stone.

It was a blow that would have cleaved any enemy in two. It barely even fazed the Shinobi God. Masato got up brushing away the grey dust on his shirt, presumably stone that his body had been used to crush into a fine powder, and hit the enemy in front of him with a boulder the size of a human before Kenji's mind could recover.

XXX

Jiro couldn't believe it, he was back in Konoha! How was such a thing possible?

He was right in front of his apartment and everything! It didn't make much sense, but something nagged at the back of his mind. How had that enemy Ninja (for only a Shinobi could hide so effectively) known who they were?

He decided to let events run their course, and walked into the apartment. Inside, all thoughts that this might be a Genjutsu instantly vanished, as this was positive evidence it could not be so, as no one could recreate something with such perfect detail. Everything he saw in her was exactly as he remembered.

"Hi son, back from your mission so soon? I hope it wasn't too boring."

It was his mother. She stood at around five feet ten inches, had eyes that shone a sapphire blue, and blonde hair that ran down the side of her face like a waterfall of ichor. He took in every detail of her face, realizing she had to be real, she just had to! It defied all laws of common sense, but somehow, he was home.

She apparently took his blank stare as confirmation of her previous statement. "That bad hm? Well, don't worry, things will get more interesting, after all, it could be so much worse. So much worse…"

Her fingers began to grow into great black scythes of claws, her hair lost its color and grew in length until it was a big grey mass of tangled twilight, and her eyes began to grow red.

"So much worse, let me show you how much worse!"

Power surged from her as her skin began to turn black. The walls, made of comparatively delicate wood, began to splinter as a strange chakra burst from her veins. The furniture, including a couch made for three when there was only two, flew through the wall, creating a massive hole in said wall.

She began to step closer to him, each small scrape of demonic flesh against roughened wood sending a wave of malice. Closer, and closer she drew. Jiro instantly knew it couldn't be real, he was trapped in a Genjutsu, but try as he might to convert chakra and break himself out of his nightmare, he found himself unable to. It was as if chakra didn't exist.

She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, and the pain started. Each ounce of malicious chakra sent a pain of a thousand needles through his flesh, as she brought him up so close he could smell her fetid breath against his will. He couldn't move, his lungs palpitated in his chest in a desperate desire for air.

"You're going to die now. I'm going to rip out your heart and shove it down your throat, until you choke on your own blood. I told you it could be so much worse."

"Mom…"

"I'm not your mother! I never was! You killed your real mother! Your own mother!"

Memories he couldn't understand, memories that were certainly not his just as certainly as they were his, began to flash through his head. Memories of insult…

_If it isn't the little bastard who'd kill his own family…_

Memories of gossip…

_Isn't he the child, the one who drove his own mother to her death…_

Memories of pain…

_Where's your Kekkei Genkai now?_

And memories of red eyes.

The world seemed to change in an instant. Everything slowed down, the pain stopped, his breath ran free, and he found his chakra in his chest. He had no reason to fear this apparition of living death. He was death!

He smiled wickedly in a way that seemed to cause even the demon to writhe in fear.

"Let me down you little bitch."

She instantly dropped him to his feet. He felt a power surging through his veins, a power that brought wrath with it. Malice, hatred, destruction, he was these things. And he was enjoying every second of it.

He looked around. The apartment was in ruins, not so much as a scrap of paper had escaped his mother's wrath. Then he starred at the broken window, and a faint reflection showed only one thing had changed in him. His eyes had become red, with two tomoe in each.

He broke down into laughter that could send a chill down the spine of the damned. "Kyahhhhahahahahhh!

"Now who's going to die!"

XXX

After recovering from the blow, admittedly with much trouble, Kenji proceeded to send twelve slash waves of light towards the God of Shinobi. He dodged them by jumping towards Dosato, leaving a trail of dust in his wake. He sent a flat palmed strike to the front most part of the left side, between the ribs and the hips, and shot lightning out of his palms at point blank range. There was no way that huge blade could absorb his attack at such a close range, and of course it didn't. He succeeded in blasting a whole in Kenji's side, albeit a non-lethal one.

Kenji staggered, almost falling to his knees.

"Give up Dosato. You never had a chance from the start, and now you're bleeding too heavily."

"Shut up, this is nothing! My honor as a warrior…"

He ripped open the sleeve of his right arm, and used it as a bandage for the wound.

"… no my honor as a servant of the Gods, demands I fight!"

"Give up, your sword is too heavy to even hit me, it's too bulky."

Dosato gave him a smarmy grin. "You're right of course. My sword can't hit you as it is. But you've seen what it does with chakra from the enemy, now let me show you what it does with chakra from a friend!"

He focused chakra to the blade, and with a mighty crack, it was done. The sword had shed its outer shell, half of it flat and half of it bladed, and within was a sword the size of a normal katana.

"With Hikari on my side, I will not lose!"

He slashed at the ninja in front of him with speeds greater than the human eye can track. He hit Masato on the head over and over, not even giving the Shinobi time to retreat. If there was one thing Kamitaka knew, it was repeated blows to the head could definitely cause him to pass out, he knew from experience.

Every lightning strike, fire blast, or wind slice, seemed almost drawn to the sword, as the high sped operation of the weapon allowed the Zanbato master to intercept and absorb even point blank shots with ease, without even letting up the attack. Eventually, the sword started to glow.

"Hikari Special Jutsu! Ultimate Light Attack!"

He held the sword at his side in a position as if it were sheathed. Then, within half a second, he hit a strike to his opponent's gut that sent him flying into the farthest wall, releasing a wave of light that was so bright that it lit the entire room in a blinding glow. The whole three-hundred meter radius.

The impact of flesh against stone was so great that it sent dust flying throughout the area, and when the dust cleared, a fifty meter tall whole in the wall had been formed. But, Masato slowly got up, dusted off his shirt, and smiled one of his most evil smiles.

Dosato's jaw almost hit the floor. "What! Are you immortal!"

"I figured it out. I know the weakness of the Hikari blade."

XXX

"I'll tell you who's going to die! You're going to die!"

He charged at her with the strength of a tiger. A punch to the chest a kick to the face, standing on his hands to unleash a foot based maelstrom, he did all these things, and every one connected.

She barely even fought back.

He sent a punch to her face that landed her against the wall, which almost gave way with a sickening thud. He charged over to her before she could even fall to the ground, lifted her up by the neck of her shirt, and slammed her into the wall twice more for good measure. The he held her up to his face and starred into her eyes with the malice of a demon.

Her eyes were filled with sapphire and fear. She was herself again, but he wasn't. He wanted blood, to kill, to rage against the world. He wanted to tear out her eyes and devour them until they turned to a delicious paste in his maw.

She was his mother again, but it didn't even matter.

"Please… Jiro! You don't want to do this! I'm your mother."

"I don't have a mother! You never cared! You're just like the rest, hating me for existing!"

He shoved his flat hand straight into her side, ripping it out through her flesh.

"Well I exist! And now there's nothing you or anybody else can do about!"

He tore out her throat with his teeth, savoring the taste of blood and flesh. But most of all, the taste of fear. He ripped out her heart, his ears no longer able to hear her silent screams of anguish. He saw them though, brought pleasure from them, as he shoved her heart in the cavity if her neck. Letting her choke on her own blood.

He turned to the rest of Konoha, for they too would pay, just as he had. Pay for hatred, pay for anguish, pay just to exist! They would feel his pain!

Then he was back in the tower. His Sharingan was gone.

XXX

"There is no weakness!" cried out Dosato. "We fight without such things to hold us back!"

"Your sword's fatal flaw is that it is glowing. It converts solar energy into light chakra."

"You call that a weakness! Nothing but strength!"

"Oh?" Masato gave a small chuckle. "Then why fight us in this dark room when there was a perfectly good sunlit wasteland just outside? Because your sword has a limit. It can only absorb so much chakra before it becomes saturated."

In blind furry, Dosato sent another ultimate wave of light at Masato. The sheer size of the attack made it impossible o dodge, but Kamitaka didn't even try. He let it hit him head on, and it all absorbed into his skin.

"Hikari isn't the only one who can absorb chakra. Hikari absorbs the elemental chakra or sunlight on contact, converts it into regular chakra, then converts it into an elemental combination chakra consisting of lightning and fire to create light chakra. But I can do the process in reverse. Your light attacks just replenish my chakra supplies of what small fraction of my chakra I have used."

Masato sent a lightning bolt strait past Kenji and his sword, ripping open the wall opposed to them. Now there was no where the light didn't shine.

Dosato hung his head low, it was over for him. He'd been relying on his ability to absorb Masato's attacks, but now he had lost even that. "Hikari, I have failed."

"Listen Dosato, I know you have a strong desire to serve the Gods. You are a warrior who fights with honor, and I can respect people like you. But you are on the wrong side, the Gods are not here! Come back with me to Konoha, you can get a job with the Hashimoto clan of priests. Your sword may have failed you today, but there is always room for honorable Shinobi like you in our village."

"No! My sword didn't fail me! I failed my sword! I failed my wife! On her deathbed she told me to carry me with her always, to use her soul to forge my blade. And I failed her, I failed Hikari, my wife, my love."

Tears rolled down the sides of his face.

"You haven't failed her yet, you can still do something with your life," Masato pleaded.

The tears stopped. "You're wrong Masato, and yet you are right. I failed her as a Shinobi… but not as a swordsman!"

He mad five hand signs, ending with the sign for the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Swords!"

He threw Hikari into the air, and it split into three swords. They fell into his hands, and he caught them one after the other. He caught one in his right hand, one in his left hand, and one in his left foot. It was only then that Masato noticed that his opponent wasn't wearing shoes, and seemed to be the subject of a permanent transformation that gave his feet the skeletal structure of a monkey, to scale for human use. Effectively, this was allowing him to grip the final sword with his feet.

"Monkey Style Swordsmanship!"

XXX

He felt two fingers on his head, and knew that his team mate, Hitomi, had saved him. He collapsed on the ground in tears before he could so much as thank her.

"Jiro! What happened?"

"Well, well, well, what an interesting experience," muttered the voice of an enemy ninja. Those who were paying attention enough would have realized that the darkness around them had been extinguished, the byproduct of another Genjutsu, gone. Replacing it was a vision of the true room, a large circular platform, undecorated in most ways, except for the floor.

The floor was decorated with a complex Fuuinjutsu seal. No one on the team could possibly have known what it did, but even a novice could tell that there were two large circles in the seal, where the symbols had seemed to vacate the ground in fear. They were easily large enough to fit a human, even an Akimichi if it came to it, in each.

But Jiro saw none of this, all he saw was the evil creature who had done this to him. She had hair that was silver in color, though it was obviously dyed. Here skin was a pale paste, as if she never desired to see the sun. She had a demeanor in her stance that suggested pleasure, she had enjoyed that! Enjoyed driving him into a Genjutsu induced rage! Enjoyed making him kill his own mother!

"You heartless bitch!"

He rushed at her, deaf to Hitomi's cries of 'don't'. She had hurt him, hit him at his primary weak spot, and she was going to pay!

He slammed her into a wall by holding his arm horizontally and smashing it against her knack. The wall exploded in stone, sending waves of powder all over the air. Her body hung limp and useless, dead to the world.

Until it and all the damage he had done to the environment had disappeared.

"Listen to the girl with the Sharingan!" screamed Hitomi. "I was trying to tell you it was no use, that that was a Perfect Clone! But did you listen, no! Think next time, team mates, team, does that mean anything to you?"

He almost told her to shut the hell up. But he mastered the impulse. That was a residue from her Genjutsu, nothing more.

Instead he cried out to the heavens. "Where are you? Show yourself!"

"No need to shout, I can hear you just fine. In fact, no need to say anything at all, I can read thine thoughts."

Hayato gave a small gasp. Even he was interested in that. "How?"

"'How?' Don't be ridiculous. I'm a Genjutsuist, manipulating the nervous system is what I do. It really is a simple matter, just sense the flow of chakra in the brain to reconstruct memories, and draw upon them. Bam! Instant mind reading."

Her body appeared right between Hitomi and Hayato. Hitomi didn't bother hitting it, but Hayato stabbed it twice with Jyuken strikes. It disappeared, and another appeared on a side of the room out of all their reach.

"You evil little bitch!" shouted Jiro again. "How dare you make me watch as I killed my own mother!"

"Me? Do that to thou? I did nothing of the sort."

"Don't give me that crap! You had me in your Genjutsu-"

"And I made thou helpless against your own mother, as she transformed into a beast and killed thou in a brutal fashion, or tried to as it turned out. But that anger, that malice, was not me. I might have accidentally triggered some memories in the process, one of which I only caught a small glimpse of, and I can't seem to find in that head of thine anymore. But all that hate came from thou, and thou alone.

"I must admit, it was quite fascinating. Thou sayest thou felt as if thou were watching it outside thineself, as if it wasn't thou thinking of it?"

Jiro began to feel his body shaking involuntarily with rage. There was no way she was getting away with such lies!

"Rrrrrrrrahhhhh!"

He gave a yell as he ran towards her, and passed strait through her as if she didn't even exist. Because of course, that one hadn't. She appeared again, this time where he had been standing only moments ago.

"Like I'm actually going to reveal my real body."

He gave another cry of rage as he rushed towards the intended target.

Only to have it transform into his mother at the last minute.

He passed strait through again, and sank to his knees, tears in his eyes. He'd done it again! He could have hurt the only person who ever loved him just then, and couldn't have stopped himself. Tears filled his eyes, bt he had learned to practice restraint, he couldn't bear the thought of doing it again.

"Had enough have we?"

A puff of smoke appeared in one of the circles, and there she was, another little trickster.

"Jiro," said Hitomi, "that's the real one!"

He instantly got back up to his feet, and prepared himself to lunge again, this one was real!

Then the girl offered her hand in a sign of peace.

"I no longer wish to torture thee. Or at least, not as I've been doing before."

"Prove it!"

"Ok, how about a peace offering?"

Jiro almost refused, but then Hayato showed a rare scene of common sense. "We need information on the Organization you work for, how about a bit of that?"

"Sounds fair. How about a name? We call ourselves 'The Miners of Many Metals,' or 'triple M,' for short. We call ourselves thus because we mine precious metals and iron from the ground around here, and ship it to other countries for a profit."

Hitomi beet Jiro to the enraged proclamation. "And you kidnapped, no worse, killed all those little children, just for that!

The woman looked puzzled. "What else for? Want revenge, did we kidnap a precious someone in thine life? Well thou can have it, as long as you know some Genjutsu." At the nod of Hitomi's head, the sadist continued. "Just step into the circle, and all thine questions shall be answered. I'll even let thine friends move on without thee, deal?"

Hitomi answered by stepping into the other circle. A secret door in the wall opened, revealing the staircase to the next level.

"Hitomi," said Jiro. "Are you sure about this?"

"Jiro, she obviously wants to duke it out with Genjutsu, and I'm the only one on the team who knows any. You have to go on, fight someone in that head on way of yours that always seems to work. I'll hang back, be a bit more subtle about it."

"But-"

"I have Sharingan on my side, Genjutsu can't even touch me."

It never occurred to either of them that the opponent might have already thought of that.

"Come on," said Hayato with the same cold indifference to peoples lives he'd been showing off lately. "We have to go."

And go they did, up the long staircase to the hell in the sky.

Hitomi turned her gaze to the woman in front of her. "Before we begin, could I get a name?"

"Mine name? Hmmm, how about it, why not? I call myself Himura, Chou."

XXX

Dosato sliced at Kamitaka with the blade at his foot, creating a downwards arc, and tossing the sword into the air as it began to move back up. He tossed another sword in the air, the one in his right hand, and used that hand to support himself on the ground, while his feet caught the swords. They slashed at the enemy in front of them, as his hand released it's hold on the ground, spinning on his back, as he tossed the swords into the air again, only to catch them in a hand and a foot and using the momentum from his spin to slice all three at once into the face of Masato.

If all of that sounded confusing, then one could only imagine how Masato felt, as sword witched hand and foot in the air repeatedly. The fact that each slash managed to make it to his face didn't help. He could barely follow the movements, and what was more, his vision was beginning to blur.

That was never a good sign, blurred vision meant he might loose consciousness any second. And to loose consciousness meant that he was probably suffering from a concussion. If there were no medical ninja in the immediate vicinity (as indeed there weren't, and indeed there had always been during his matches with the Hokage), if he fell asleep with a concussion, he might never wake up! And he couldn't imagine it being any better if he were to pass out.

He was slowly being backed into a corner. It was true that Hikari was now unable to grant its wielder the ability to block his attacks. But now he was still doomed anyway, as he was being assaulted by three swords, and had barley been able to launch any form of attack when there was only one. Now, it was downright impossible.

As he felt the darkness coming, something new happened. Dosato threw all three Hikaris high into the air. Masato made three hand signs. Then Dosato began to toss something Masato couldn't see in his direction. It turned out to be invisible wire, and before the swords even finished falling, Masato was entirely tied up, and suspended three inches into the air.

Then the swords finished falling, one in each hand and one foot.

"Monkey Style: Three Way Decapitation!"

Dosato jumped with his one free leg, and flipped upside down in mid-air. He sliced both the swords in his hand vertically across two different sides of the head, and then brought the last one down with his foot, dead center. In a normal ninja, this would have split the head into three places, and the body in half, as the two handheld swords would each slice in a path that would not interfere with the other, and were then well out of the way of he third sword when it came and split the body in half with a force so great it couldn't even be stopped by bones.

In theory, the God of Shinobi still should have been able to absorb the attack entirely, then proceed to lose consciousness.

In reality, he was affected even easier than most humans, splitting in half and thirds with ease.

Then the body dissolved into ashes.

"What the hell!"

Dosato looked behind him to see the real Kamitaka. He had used the Replacement Jutsu to switch himself with a clone made of ash.

"Slippery as an eel aren't you?"

Masato was panting heavily, as if the extra oxygen might help him fight of the darkness looming over his vision.

"There was a reason I choose an ash clone."

Dosato then realized something, the dust Masato had been kicking up into the air the entire fight wasn't dust at all. It was ash, and it was still hanging in the air. And the ash from the clone was only increasing it.

"I manipulated the ash I created by combining wind and fire chakra so that it didn't enter my own lungs, but you've been breathing it in the entire fight."

Kenji gave a look of alarm, he realized then that this was bad. His enemy had access to his lungs!

"Wind, release!"

The wind chakra in the ash instantly dissipated, leaving only the fire to remain. Kenji's lungs burst into flames, and the smoke began to come out of his lungs.

He fell to the ground, and his Shadow Clone Swords disappeared. Hikari fell to the ground by his side.

Masato was about to leave for the stairs, when he heard movement. He turned back around to see Kenji still struggling to stand back up, his Hikari blade already clutched desperately in his hands.

"Kenji.."

Masato couldn't stand to see an honorable warrior die like this, struggling to carry out his task even in death. Then something even worse happened, Kenji's eyes got a new look in them. Resignation, a knowledge that they truly could no longer continue.

Mustering up what little chakra he had left, the master of the Zanbato shortened his sword yet again, stripping it of even more metal, allowing it to fall away like lotus petals, until it became a Tanto. He ripped open his shirt, and made a swift stab and stroke, from left to right. Then his strength failed him, and he collapsed almost completely, barely able to keep himself on his knees, his head bowed.

Masato knew what Dosato's eyes said. They said "you know what to do."

He walked over to remains of Hikari's first transformation, and picked up the original bladed edge of the Zanbato. He walked over to his fallen enemy, and said.

"You fought bravely, I will be your second."

Masato cut the warriors head off, the pseudo sword he was using and his lack of skill keeping him from the appropriate near decapitation asked for by the ritual. But he dared not to ask to use the Hikari Tanto instead.

For even in death, the blade remained firmly in Kenji's grip.

XXX

Masato entered the room ahead only to be met with a rude surprise. A woman he couldn't recognize and his own Hitomi Uchiha were placed within an elaborate seal, a seal the size of the three-hundred meter radius room. The entirety of the thing was glowing a pale blue.

They were on there knees making the sign of the tiger, there eyes and mouths agape and glowing the same pale blue as the seal. The one he didn't recognize was glowing completely blue in eye and mouth, but Hitomi had a red glow in the center of here eyes.

Masato wondered if it was because she was using the Sharingan.

Then the darkness took him, and he ceased to wonder at all.

XXX

Man, Kenji's death was sad, in my opinion. The man was an honorable warrior among Shinobi, and even if he only appeared in one fight, I will personally miss him. So here is a bit about his fighting style.

The Hikari blade (named for his dead wife), has a special power. Masato was dead on in describing it. What he didn't know, what even Kenji doesn't know, is that the soul of his dead wife, which gives it its abilities, actually gives it a mind of its own. Although she didn't have these abilities in life, in death she has gained this power, and it is her love for her husband that makes her ever vigilant.

Therefore, the soul in the sword actually has to like you in order for any of the powers to work. To allow the sword to use its ability, one has to swing it, reducing the effectiveness of the abilities a little. Chakra from your body is used to make it change shape in order to help communicate the intentions. But since there is no way to talk to the trapped soul, no wielder of a sword like this actually knows how any of this works! Oh, and because of the whole sealing souls into the weapon thing, forging these weapons is a forbidden art, but Kenji's wife volunteered!

Monkey Style martial arts was a neat little idea that I thought fit well for Kenji, so I gave it to him instead of giving it to another character (who I had yet to make up). I like the result. It can't be used with a Zanbato, because the sword is too heavy. The style uses a permanent transformation to allow the wielder to wield swords with his feet as well as his hands. The user then juggles the swords between hands to move, and can incorporate this into an effective attack as well (though unskilled users are restricted to only attacking when swords are firmly in hand). The style emulates the acrobatics and theoretical ability to use three weapons of monkeys, and legend (fake story legend, I've never actually heard something like this in real life) states that the first user was actually taught how to use three swords by a family of warrior monkeys (think of Enma, and that image will seem a little less goofy).

Now that I've said all of this, I want to ask your opinion on a little idea. I was thinking that adding a more rookie type set of characters using these abilities might be a good idea in the Chunin exam (yes this is confirmation that there will be a Chunin exam in this story). But I want other opinions, because I'm not sure. After taking these skills to there height with Dosato, it might seem a little less deep of a skill set. But I can promise that they would use either A) New Monkey Style Moves, or B) Non-light based abilities in there weapon. And yes, it would be two separate characters, because I am absolutely not going to make a Kenji clone.

Please, tell me what you all think of the idea. Oh and about the whole Jiro in a Genjutsu scenes, let's just say, the story is going to go in a very dark direction.


	15. Hitomi VS Chou

A/N: This chapter starts just slightly before the last one ended.

**Hitomi V.S. Chou**

Hitomi had just sent the others up to the next room. She had displayed an unwavering confidence, but as she turned to look into the face of the sadistic Chou, the dead eyes hidden behind a warm smile began to shake this confidence. The eyes seemed to look past her, seeing something that wasn't there, and yet was infinitely more interesting than a young Uchiha.

Nervously, Hitomi asked, "So, how do we begin?"

The startled Chou seemed to be brought back to reality in a snap of burning tension. "Oh, simple enough. Here, let me show thee. First kneel," she got into a kneeling position, "like this. Then make the sign of the tiger, and focus some chakra into the seal, the rest is up to the seal."

Hitomi did as she was instructed only after putting the seal under much scrutiny with the Sharingan. She couldn't figure out what it was supposed to do for the life of her, but she could tell that whatever it did would be equally distributed between both parties. If anything bad could come of using this seal, it was going to affect Himura just as much as it was her.

So she got on her knees, and made the hand sign, focusing her chakra…

She wasn't even aware of her Sensei's entrance, nor when he collapsed upon the ground. She was long gone, trapped in her own little world.

XXX

Hitomi had no idea where she was. It was a village much like Konoha, yet so different. The buildings were much taller, and seemed to never end. The sky had no clouds, no sun, no moon, and no stars. Hitomi wondered briefly how there even was any light. The whole world was nothing but an endless labyrinth of tall buildings and when you were lucky enough to glimpse a section of what was beyond the buildings, you were met with a featureless sky. To add nothing but layer upon layer to the impossibility, the whole world was a bright shade of scarlet, as if she was looking through a stained glass window. Even when she looked down at her arms, they were a deeply disturbing blood red.

"What am I doing here?"

"I can answer that."

Hitomi gave a startled yelp at the sight of Chou, who was also a weird red shade. She had appeared out of no where, moments after Hitomi herself had. She merely chuckled at the normality of the reaction.

"Is this how the Uchiha Clan reacts to being surprised? Not very high and mighty."

"Where are we?"

Himura made a slight little jerk of an eyebrow at this. "Isn't it obvious? .Thou has been pulled into my mind."

Hitomi was taken aback a little at this. A Genjutsu that took someone into your mind? She had heard of no such thing before.

"Well, we're not in my mind exactly. The seal creates a link between the minds of those who use it, and this link is essentially the location of where we are. So it's kind of like we're in each other's mind at the same time, and kind of like we are in neither at all. Either way, this is projected from my thoughts."

"So we are no where? This place isn't real?"

"It is all in our heads, but why would that make it any less real?"

Hitomi closed her eyes for only a moment, but even in that time, once she had opened them, Chou had moved on to the side of one of those buildings.

"Answer me, how is this not real?"

"Well for one thing, we can not die here."

It was a very curious phenomena, perhaps if she had not been using her Sharingan, Hitomi would not have noticed it, so confused was she already. Walking on a wall was a very common little trick for a ninja, though Hitomi had not yet learned it herself. But even the best of the ninja, the ones able to look completely relaxed upon the side of a wall, could not obliterate gravity. Yet Himura's cloths were attracted to the building, as if that was down for her.

Then the whole world seemed to turn on its side, and the buildings really _were_ down. Hitomi was only lucky that she hadn't had to fall very far, being only three feet from the nearest building. Still, she was flustered.

"What?"

"Reality is subjective, thou should know that as well as I."

"You never answered my question."

Himura began to laugh like a mad woman. "Kyahhahhhahh! No, no, thou are right, don't flash me such a look. It's just that well, thou won't like it."

Hitomi activated her Sharingan. "What won't I like?"

Chou stopped laughing. "Well see; we are going to play a little game. We fight three times in this subjective world and the winner escapes. The loser triggers the seal's final power."

"W-what?"

"The final power. Anyone who loses two out of three matches in this place activates the seals most sinister power. A built in Ninjutsu, the one who is hit by it will die in the head, essentially living still, but in a comma you will never awaken from."

XXX

Jiro was now in a deep state of worry. The facts could not be denied, this entire tower seemed to be design to limit how many people were fighting at once. True, the first level worked on the honor system, but the second level had contained a special seal that only two people could fight in, and who knows how many precautions to make sure that only the ones using the seal would fight. Somehow, Jiro had the feeling that the next level was only going to be more drastic in how it limited the number of combatants.

As they walked up the stairs, they came to a door that was attached to the roof. It wasn't locked, but as they opened it, Jiro heard the distinct sound of trip wires. But before he could react, the trap went off. Curiously, the trap seemed harmless. All that happened was that thousands of moon-light white petals fell from the opened door. They fell to the feet of the two Shinobi like a pleasant snow, softly, gently, and without any deadly effect.

_Weird._

"Jiro," said the ever indifferent Hayato. "I think we better activate our

Byakugan."

Jiro nodded, and complied. Instantly, as the radius of his enhanced vision came into focus, he saw that they were being followed. Trusting Hayato to understand that he saw the enemy Shinobi as well, Jiro didn't even nod as a signal. If it wasn't for the Byakugan, he would never have caught the sneaky little bugger. You didn't give obvious signals when the enemy was that good at stealth; they were often perceptive as well. Jiro was painfully aware of the bulging veins in his face.

The Byakugan afforded a three-hundred and sixty degree view of the room, or almost at any rate. So it was quite easy for Jiro to see how the stalker was hiding. There were a multitude of pillars, each spaced equidistant to each other at around three meters from each, filling the entire room with stone columns. It seemed obvious that this was merely decorative, as none of the other rooms below needed any such thing for support. Still, it made the whole place feel smaller, as if the stone was trying to suffocate him, and it gave a ninja a great way to hide.

They were just about to climb the next stair case when a voice came out from behind them.

"I've seen enough. I know who I want to fight."

Jiro and Hayato politely turned around to face the enemy, even though it was very easy to see him when he was behind them with their eyes.

"You, the one with the lavender eyes, and no pupils. I'm going to be fighting you."

"Me," said a sardonic Hayato, "whatever for?"

"I get a strange feeling from you. I don't think I've ever felt such a thing before. It feels, hallow."

Hayato seemed a little taken aback by this. "Oh, really? And just who are you to say that?"

"Well boy, it feels like murderous intent, but it is so empty. I should know; I just happen to be an expert on the subject. My name is Tanaka, Katashi."

XXX

"What? Are you insane?"

"Maybe a little bit, now then…"

Hitomi used this distraction, and decided to run like hell. She wasn't a close encounters type, and being so near to her opponent was nerve racking. The thing was, she wanted to run, but her body just wouldn't move.

"I, can't, move!"

"Thou have to move it with thy mind, like a clone."

Hitomi focused her mind, and began directing each movement with an iron will. Her body began to move very easily. That was when she was beginning to understand, everything here was controlled by the mind, and there was no body. This meant she was as strong as she thought she should be.

Directing her body toward the ninja opponent, she pounced like a tiger. But the enemy was more experienced in the subjectivity of the world, and fell to the ground without even making any indication of a jump, as if gravity had just changed around her. It was all Hitomi could do to keep her version of down as the building she was standing on.

Chou smiled, "So slow. Titan's Hammer!"

Without making any hand signs, Chou appeared to have summoned a large hammer. She used it to strike the wall next to her, which spider webbed at the slightest tap.

_So strong, how did she…_

Hitomi didn't have time to think about this, every signal one of her thoughts was occupied with evading the hammer.

_Jump left, right, to the side! Make the earth your down, and-_

She made a distinctly unpleasant sound as her stomach came into contact with the hammer.

_I don't understand, it hurts… But I'm not telling it to hurt! Is this the power of Chou's mind?_

Hitomi ran for it, ducking and weaving through the twisted passageways, desperate to create distance between herself and her adversary. It wasn't working; every corner she turned seemed to have Chou around it. _How can she just teleport around like this?_

"Getting tired yet?"

Surprisingly, none of that running seemed to be eating away at Hitomi's stamina. But there was this feint feeling of fatigue, growing stronger even as she held still, as if something was leeching her chakra.

"That would be the seal. Keeping up a connection between two minds isn't free you know."

"How am I supposed to win?"

"Genjutsu."

Hitomi didn't get a chance to understand, Chou raised her hammer, and then suddenly there were three of her, surrounding the Sharingan user, and cutting of any chance of escape. Hitomi was crushed, literally, and then the world turned black.

XXX

"Katashi!!" cried an enraged Hayato.

"What" asked Jiro, "you've heard of him? Another famous Taijutsuist I presume?"

"Yeah, but I'm not so surprised that this one's working for Triple M. So what, Tanaka, being a ninja not bloody enough for you?"

Tanaka chuckled, "You could say that. But this job works out quite well, if I'm extra good, they let me rip the fingers off a slave, and if I'm lucky, a whelp like you who fancies himself a ninja will make it to my layer."

"Watch who you're talking to!"

Hayato turned on his Murderous Intent to full blast, doing everything in his power to intimidate the Jonin level Shinobi. Jiro could feel hatred rolling off him in waves; it made the back of his throat feel dry, as if he had been out in the Suna desert for days without water, forcing him to gulp in order to wet it with his saliva.

But the ninja in front of them just faked a yawn. "I'm so scarred; I think my bunny slippers may have just run for their lives! Little friendly advice, don't go threatening someone like me at that pathetic level."

Then Tanaka let out his own Murderous Intent. It felt like Jiro was going to die, had to die, there was no other choice. How could Jiro survive against something like this, when he was too scarred to even move? To even breathe? There was no way, it was impossible, he was going to die, he was going to die, HE WAS GOING TO DIE!

Then the ninja repressed his Murderous Intent, and Jiro collapsed to the ground.

_Incredible, and this time, it was real._

Hayato was still gasping for air, but also still standing.

"I've," he gasped, "seen worse!"

"Hayato," whispered Jiro, "what was that?"

"It's the reason he's famous. Tanaka is famous for having an inhumanely strong Murderous Intent. It is said that when his power rises beyond that point, he goes into a blood rage!"

Katashi laughed furiously, as Jiro asked, "So how bad is that really?"

"They kicked him out of the Village Hidden in the Sound before the civil war, because when he was in a blood rage, he tore off his enemy's arms, and beat his teammate to death with them."

"Lovely."

Takashi stopped laughing. "Don't worry boy, you can go on ahead, it's the one who's still standing I care about. He has such an interesting Murderous Intent."

Hayato flashed Jiro a glance, one that sent ice down Jiro's spine. "What are you still doing here? Go! I'll take care of him."

"You can't-"

"Just go!"

"If I leave, you won't stand a chance alone!"

"And if you stay, he'll just go into a blood rage faster! The thrill of fighting multiple enemies by himself only makes him more excitable!"

Jiro felt a pit in his stomach. This was it, this was the horrible thing meant to keep them separate that had waited on the third floor. If they fought as one, it only made the Battle more difficult.

"Are you sure you can beat him?"

"He's an embarrassment to Taijutsu, sullying it with his bad name. I'll destroy him!"

XXX

Hitomi woke up in Konoha, atop the statues of the Hokage. She only had to wonder for a minute what she was doing there.

"The last world was a representation of my mind, and this one is thou's"

Hitomi immediately turned to face her enemy, the one who had spoken.

"Thou has now died once, how does it feel? I wouldn't know; I have never died."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"Oh of course not. How could I have been so stupid? After all, the only evidence supporting that is that thou are a Genjutsuist, who usually opt to become such a thing because they are afraid to fight their opponent. Oh, and let's not forget how fast thou ran away from me last time. Thou have yet to draw out a weapon against me, but I'm sure that was all part of thy plan, even the part where I crushed thee like a grape."

Hitomi couldn't respond very well to that. Still, she tried anyway. "Then why did you become a Genjutsuist?"

"Because, I love to experiment on the mind, to obliterate the body in impossible ways just to see how they react, and to watch them cry as there loved ones suffer! Isn't the mind amazing?"

Hitomi made five hand signs, and a spear appeared in her hands. Quick as a flash, she stabbed it strait through her adversary's neck. Chou fell to the ground upon the disappearance of the spear, and soon ceased to breath.

"W-what did I just-"

The wound on Chou's neck began to heal at a rapid rate, closing at an unnatural speed. The body began to rise on its own, and Hitomi couldn't figure out what was going on. That was until the environment began to change.

The red city and the statues of the Hokage all blended into one disorderly place. To add to the confusion, some parts of the red city had blended with the sky itself, and there was no longer up or down, left or right, all of it was meaningless in this new distorted reality.

"Not bad Uchiha, I've never been to a place like this before. Usually it is me, then them, then back to the real world. I must say, I'm impressed, I never knew the seal could do this."

"How the heck are you still alive?"

"Round three, remember? I killed thee, and then thou killed me, now once again I shall kill thee. After all, that is the way the world works. The strong live, the weak die, but every once in a while someone will surprise you. It is all just a big roll of the dice."

Hitomi decided that now was a time to test her new theory. She had created the spear, and that proved how this world related to her Genjutsu. So now it was time to see what happened when reality no longer applied.

XXX

Masato had no idea where he was, but wherever it was, it was odd. The terrain spread out for as far as the eye could see in every direction. It was equally divided into five separate parts. One was the sky, as if seen from above the clouds. One was a land of volcanoes, were the very ground itself was always aflame. One was a desolate place, barren of all things except clouds in the sky, which seemed to thunder on continuously, even though there was no rain. The fourth part was an ocean, with not so much as a wave to disturb the peaceful view. And the last was a mountain that extended beyond the ability to be seen, forever doomed to envy the ground beneath its feet.

It was in the exact center, where the base of the mountain, the edge of a cloud, electrically burned grassland, the salty sea air, and the heat of an inferno all met together, that Masato found himself.

_Is this a hallucination? If so, I think I may have a worse concussion than I thought._

"Masato, is that you?"

A woman ran out from the land of flames. They licked her skin, and yet she did not burn. Her eyes were a fiery red, her hair a distinct red color that lit up the face as if it was on fire, and her skin gave of the pale glow of moonlight. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, and Masato thought of her as beautiful in every way. Beautiful and familiar…

"I've been looking for you forever! Where have you been? Why is it that you haven't come meditate in your mindscape for two years?"

Masato felt a pain in his head. He had no awareness of what it was like to be on fire, for the elements could never seem to touch him, but if he had he would have said that it felt like his very mind was ablaze.

"Mindscape? We are within my mind? So you are a figment of my imagination?"

"Don't you remember me?"

"I…"

And for a moment Masato thought he could remember her, the softness of her skin, the fire in her spirit, the power of her voice.

But then it was gone, there yet there no more, and he shook his head.

"I don't remember much of anything really, not beyond the past few years."

"So that's what happened…"

She looked down to the fire at her feet, and Masato thought he could feel a single tear dropping on his foot. But then the moment passed, she lifted up her face, and it was quite dry.

"I wish I could explain everything, but that would take much longer than we are likely to have. I don't know how much time we have left, so I need you to tell me now before it's too late! Are you on Earth?"

"Well, yes, but where else could I be?"

"That's not important right now! Where are you now?"

"Well right now I'm at the tower of Triple M, but I don't think I'm going to be there too long. I'm just on a mission."

She gasped, and a look of furry overtook her face.

"So you are working for a Shinobi nation! I should have know, that's exactly the kind of thing those bastards would do! Which one-"

But at that instant the ground beneath there feet was begging to dissolve. The world was falling apart, and beneath them laid the black abyss.

"Oh no, I have to get out of here, before I become just another memory for you to lose! Listen; don't forget me again, ok?"

With a wave of her hand a portal of light appeared, and she almost stepped through it. But than Masato's hand reached out to her, and grabbed her arm.

"Wait, what are you doing!"

"You know something!" he accused. "You know who I am! We've met before, in my forgotten memories!"

"Let go, I'll die if I fall down into that abyss!"

"Tell me!"

Lightning flew through his hands, bursting open the skin on her arms. He recoiled in shock, only to find her blood was a bright yellow.

"Oh my lord. Are you ok?"

"Don't worry about it, once I wake up, this will be nothing more than a minor headache."

"What are you?"

She had begun to walk toward the light, but then stopped, turned her head back to face him, and sent him a warm smile.

"I'm nothing more than a memory."

And then she took the final step, and was gone.

XXX

Hitomi made hand signs, and stated, "Ninja Art: Sink into the Abyss!"

The world around them turned into a fiery pit, with demons of all shapes and sizes surrounding them. The sight of hell itself would make anyone wet their pants without shame. But Chou just yawned.

"Big deal, I've seen worse without Genjutsu."

She made no hand signs, but the world seemed to change into her own anyway. The world melted away, revealing a new landscape, a cemetery, with crosses sticking out of the grave.

_I can't copy her attacks if she doesn't make hand signs. How is she even doing that? And I can't even see her chakra, but that's probably because she is converting chakra in the real world. Plus, my Sharingan can't resist this Genjutsu, because it has no visible flaws! Great, my best ability, the one I was relying on to get me through this fight, is completely worthless._

She made more hand signs, and then there were ten Hitomis. In this world inside their head, Perfect Clones worked as if they were Shadow clones. A few more hand signs and they each had a gilded spear.

They rushed at Chou, each with there weapons raised, but Chou closed her eyes, and kicked each fake Hitomi away. They disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I can read minds, remember? Yes Hitomi that is something to curse about, even if only in thy head. Because that means that I can determine every move thou will make before thou make it, especially in a world without muscle memory or reflex."

Hitomi charged herself, only to be blocked. A spear thrust to the left, a kick to the right, but everything was blocked. Chou used another Genjutsu, and now here hammer was back in her hand.

"I will win Hitomi, and thou will cease to exist."

Then Hitomi created a demon from thin air, a fragment of her most potent Genjutsu.

"I figured it out! The reason you can do Genjutsu without a hand sign in this world is because to so much as move your hand to make them requires nothing but thought! All of your parlor tricks are just projections of your own thoughts in this world! But now I know how to do this too."

The demon held down Chou, who teleported behind it, and smashed it with a hammer, then Hitomi teleported behind Chou.

"What-"

Chou was stabbed strait through with a spear, and pinned to the ground.

"That teleporting thing you do is just you believing yourself to be somewhere you are not. Not easy I admit, but possible, especially in this whack job world."

"Why didn't thou kill me?"

"Haven't I?" said Hitomi, with an air of not even believing her own statement.

"No thou have not! Thou know just as well as I do that it is technically possible to survive being stabbed with a spear! I just believe I got lucky, and I am! Finish me the hell off!"

"No!"

Hitomi turned her head away from the writhing worm on the ground in front of her.

"Just release me from the seal, and then nobody has to die."

"If thou don't kill me now, I'll just kill thee."

"I didn't become a Shinobi to kill people! I became a Shinobi to help my village."

Chou sneered. "Oh yes because the world needs more people like thy father."

"How did you-"

"I read people's effin' thoughts! Sheesh! But do thou really think thou can make a difference if thou don't hurt people?"

"I, I became a Genjutsuist to do just that. To incapacitate my foes without killing them!"

"Fool! Genjutsu may not be able to kill people, but pain is pain! Genjutsu was designed to torture the victims until they begged for mercy, to tear apart the body in impossible ways! Genjutsu is pain!"

"I don't believe that!"

Hitomi felt her resolve weakening.

"I will find a way to incapacitate without harming people. To end this pain we all must endure. To find a new way of the ninja."

Chou sighed; and put her hand on the spear tip.

"Cancel."

The spear disappeared.

"How did you-"

"As soon as the spear stayed in my stomach to long, I couldn't convince myself that I had survived any longer. One explanation was that it was Genjutsu. So I choose to believe that, allowing me to cancel it.

"Listen, I know thou don't want to be like thy father. Willing to do anything for power, even harm those most precious to thee. But the fact of the matter is the strong live, and the weak die. No matter how many people I torture in this world, they all have one thing in common. In the end, nobody wants to die, and they are willing to fight for it."

Hitomi sighed. "I guess there is no choice. Either I die, or you do. Inescapable…"

Hitomi's eyes flared with an idea.

"But that doesn't mean I have to choose! Ninja Art: Reverse Spear Rain!"

Spears rained up from the ground, and struck both girls strait through at the exact same time. Both girls died on the instant.

XXX

Hitomi woke up at the exact same time Chou did.

"What?" muttered the enemy. "How is it possible? Who won?"

"It was a tie Chou, no one has to die."

"Oh that's just great! Now I have to kill with my own two hands, and that gets messy! I hope thou are satisfied!"

Hitomi only gave a little "meep" at this. She was doomed; she had little to no talent in hand to hand combat.

Then her saving grace came, Masato had woken up.

"Is this what it feels like to have a hangover?" he asked. "Because my head is killing me!"

"Masato-sensei!"

"Oi, Hitomi. What's going on should you really be done with this fight by now? Or have I really been asleep for much longer than I thought?"

Chou got up from her knees, taking up a murderous stance.

"Dosato failed? Well isn't that lovely? I get to kill a naive little girl, and the God of Shinobi in one fell swoop!"

She began to make hand signs, but was cut off as Masato ran behind her and put her in a nelson hold.

"No need to be hasty. I wouldn't want to have to kill you."

"Be my guest, if thou dares!"

Then her body lit itself on fire.

"Ahhhh, no, stop! The pain! Make it stop!"

"Unluckily for 'thou', I'm in a bad mood."

He let her fall to the ground. She desperately tried to roll away the flames, only to find the wounds becoming more and more severe.

Hitomi started to cry.

"I couldn't save her… She was in my grasp, and I couldn't save her. Is this what it means to be a Shinobi?"

"Yes Hitomi, killing people is part of the Shinobi lifestyle. But so is helping people. You just have to find a balance."

Chou was on the verge of death but she gave a hardy laugh, and made the sign of the tiger.

The staircase went up in smoke as a hundred exploding tags went off around it.

"Now thou will learn! Now thou will have to realize the truth! Thou can not help thou's friends, thou can not save lives! Only helplessly slaughtering your enemies is possible as a Shinobi!"

And then she died.

"Masato-sensei…"

"Hitomi, I think we have a problem."

XXX

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the last two (not incredibly shorter, but still a step in the wrong direction). I wanted to do a good fight scene, and then ran out of inspiration. Or more accurately, my inspiration focused itself on the future of the story. New ideas just sprung from my head, scenes I want to do, and none of my creativity managed to stay in the present. Sorry.

Also, there is a reason why Masato can't just carry Hitomi (who can't climb up the walls with chakra yet) up the wall, or even create a new staircase out of earth, metal, wood, ice, ect. This will be explained in the next chapter.

By the way, I know that the world of Naruto is never stated to be called Earth; I'm just calling it that for the sake of simplicity. If anyone could tell me the real name, I'll use that.

Calling all readers! The current story arch is near completion. There are only two chapters left. After that, another story arch stands between us and the Chunin exam. I need more ideas for fighters, to put it quite bluntly. I'm going to try to shake up the basic exam formula a little, but there really will need too be a good amount of fighting. So if anyone has any ideas, just a simple concept, I would appreciate it. Just a simple sentence describing the fighting style is all I really need. I can mold a character around it myself.

There will still be an update on Friday. I already have a chapter in reserve for this.


	16. Hayato VS Katashi

**Hayato V.S. Katashi**

Hayato stared down his foe with his active Byakugan. The enemy was of average Jonin level chakra, which was to say, years ahead of him. . Unluckily for Hayato, that meant he had to block off much more Tenketsu before the fight could end. Luckily, as far as he knew, the enemy didn't use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, only Taijutsu, which would give any Byakugan user the edge.

_Well, except maybe Jiro._

"Hey, whelp. We going to start this fight, or what?"

Hayato cracked his knuckles, and got into his stance.

_Let's get a few strikes in to gauge his abilities._

Hayato ran for Katashi at full speed. His struck at three Tenketsu on his opponent's left arm, only to have all three strikes stop short, as if pushed back by some unseen force. He sent a kick to Tanaka's right, placing his hands on the ground to provide extra leverage. Only to be thrown back by another invisible burst of energy.

He rolled for several feet, only to hit his back against a pillar.

_He has some sort of weird Jutsu!_

"Give up yet?"

Hayato got back up to his feet, ignoring the pain in his spine.

"Come on," said Katashi. "Show me the reason behind the Murderous Intent in your eyes!"

XXX

"Don't worry, nothing I can't fix," muttered Masato.

"Are you sure?" asked Hitomi, as her sensei approached the place where the stairway had been only moments ago.

"Don't worry, just a little Earth Chakra, and we can move on."

Then he saw the snow white petals of moonlight. They looked like extremely pale sakura petals. But his thoughts on them were far from aesthetic.

_How did they endure one hundred exploding tags?_

Then a signal petal touched his cheek.

He fell to his hands and knees, vomiting profusely.

"Masato-sensei!"

"Stay back! Somehow, these petals are toxic!"

That was all he had managed to cough out before more petals began to fall on his skin. As each one touched his skin, he vomited more and more. Each time he did so kept him too weak to stand up. And because he couldn't stand up, he was hit by more petals, until he began to fall unconscious

"Enough… of this!"

His body lit itself on fire, to no affect. Now he knew how those things had survived such a blast, they seemed to be completely immune to chakra. His flames didn't even manage to divert their course before they died away.

And he was buried in Moonlight petals, vomiting, closing his eyes…

"Masato-sensei!"

Hitomi made her decision. She ran into the poisonous petals, and pulled her sensei out. Strangely, they did her no harm.

"Hitomi… They were expecting us…"

And then he was gone to the world again. Hitomi anxiously looked to the pile of petals.

"What were they…?"

She stayed at her sensei's side. She had no medical training, but she was all he had. Besides, now she had no way of getting to the others.

Alone, helpless, she begged to the Gods that the others were safe.

XXX

_Damn!_ thought Hayato. _He's to strong; I can't use Heart Breaker to end this quickly._

Heart Breaker relied on three things (besides Byakugan). One, a solid blow, no fleeting contact like with normal Jyuken. After all, the move was based on tearing the opponent apart from the inside, not disabling them. Two, it required the blow to be to the heart. This was because the heart was the main focus of all chakra, and therefore the only place where enough chakra could gather quickly enough. If any other spot on the body was hit, the body created scar tissue around the area, permanently sealing of the Tenketsu before enough chakra escaped to kill the enemy. And three, it required enough time to twist your fingers.

The third part was easy enough, all it required was half a second, though with an enemy on this level even that could be hard to achieve. But a blow to the heart was difficult; any mediocre ninja knew that the heart was one of the most important places to protect. And with that man's strange Jutsu, it was almost impossible to get a solid blow.

"Damn it!" Hayato cursed as he futilely ran toward the man who could not be hit.

_I'll have to fall back on regular Jyuken._

He sent two strikes towards the man's left arm, which never made contact. Hayato knew it wouldn't, but what he didn't know was why…

"Had enough yet you little whelp?"

"Not on your life, Katashi!"

Tanaka unleashed his Murderous Intent in an effort to paralyze Hayato. But Hayato managed to unleash his own Intent, nullifying the effects a little.

But it wasn't enough, fear still slowed his movements. Tanaka had never moved this entire battle, but now it was his time to act.

He sent a kick to Hayato's stomach that rivaled the speed of sound. Hayato took the full force of the blow to the stomach, coughing up a small amount of blood.

Hayato got back to his feet, and launched the attack. Two strikes to the head, one to the abdomen, three to the left leg, all of them intercepted by some invisible force.

_Invisible to the naked eye, but with my Byakugan…_

"I figured it out! I know what kind of Jutsu you're using! You use chakra to block attacks."

Tanaka smirked, the kid was close.

"You almost figured it out, my first stage technique uses chakra to provide equal and opposite force to the enemy's, therefore neutralizing the enemy's attack. But I think I may be figuring you out as well!"

He rushed behind Hayato, at a rate almost fast enough to escape detection by the Byakugan. He grabbed Hayato's arm, and began to twist it, and twist it, and twist it…

"I figured you out as well. This feeling I get from you, this hallow emptiness, is not Murderous Intent. It is intent for Murderous Intent."

Hayato could feel his arm snapping at the tendons.

"Gyaaaah!"

"You have someone to kill, but you're to big a coward to kill him! So you hide behind a façade."

He tossed Hayato into a pillar, demolishing it into a raining cloud of solid sand.

"Allow me to teach you how to hate!"

XXX

Naruto was starring down his archenemy in the face. A battle of will so strong, even the Kyuubi might tremble in fear before it. The enemy was by no means his alone, every Hokage before him had faced this challenge, and every one had barely managed to escape with their minds intact. Naruto drew his one weapon against this terrifying force…

…a black pen.

"Man I hate paperwork."

Naruto looked down at the forms he had to sign, notices through which he needed to be notified, and documents he needed to ratify. He gave a deep sigh, and began to read through it all, signing everything he felt was acceptable policy. He absolutely hated paperwork! When he was younger, he had always expected being Hokage to be an incredible adventure, but the reality was far less glamorous. His job was not to protect the village from every threat that came its way, but to prevent these threats in the first place. Add in a solid amount of leadership roles, and you had the greatest ninja in the village, reduced to signing little sheets of paper (and even bigger stacks of these little sheets of paper), day in, and day out.

It was actually a little depressing. Luckily, Naruto didn't have to endure it alone; Neji had drawn the short straw that day, and had to be his Anbu guard. Not that hanging around with Naruto wasn't fun and all, but paperwork was even ore boring when you _weren't_ the one signing it.

That was the state of things that day in the Hokage office.

"Hey, Neji, how do you think Squad fifteen is doing? They've been gone for almost ten days now…"

"Why did you even give them such a tough assignment for their first mission anyway?"

"Well like I told them-"

"Save it, I already heard that one. How about telling me something that isn't bull?"

Naruto smiled. "Still as clever as ever I see, the long period of peace hasn't dulled your senses in the least."

Neji frowned. "It hasn't been a period of peace for me Naruto. I'm an exile, remember?"

"Yes, and I really do appreciate the effort to-"

Then the door burst open, and the chilled was thirteen, with pale skin and lavender eyes.

"Where is he?"

"Where is who?" asked Naruto.

"You know damn well who! Where is Jiro?"

Naruto's eyebrow gained a slight arc at this. The air of hatred coming of the child was almost as unmistakable as his eyes. He was a Hyuga.

"And why do you want to know?" inquired Neji. "Do you plan to hurt him?"

"Hurt him? I'll kill the little bastard! Where is he?"

Naruto couldn't help feel a little shiver at this. The boy's rage was so great that it was creating a Murderous Intent even the Kyuubi would not dare to mock. This was something more than the ordinary anti-Jiro Hyuga, you couldn't simply inherit this kind of Hatred.

"I'll ask again," insisted Neji. "What business do you have with Jiro?"

"Everything! It's all his fault! And I'm going to make him pay for it."

The boy ran out the window once it became obvious the Hokage wasn't going to tell him anything.

"Neji, alert the Anbu, we have a problem."

"Right away sir."

Neji was almost out the door before Naruto thought of something else to add.

"Neji, do you know that boy's name?"

"His name is Ichirou sir, Ichirou Hyuga."

XXX

"Let me teach you how to hate!"

Hayato barely managed to dodge as the pillar he was hiding behind exploded into a million shards of stone. He ducked to the side, landing on his now useless right arm, sending a jolt of pure, unimaginably real pain up his arm.

But he suppressed the urge to scream, he had ducked behind another pillar in his attempt to dodge. He had to hide, to do otherwise would be fatal.

"Second Stage! Long range attacks!"

_Damn it! This wasn't supposed to happen this way._

He began to formulate a plan; to bad he wasn't very good at such things. That was Jiro's job. Still, in terms of collection of pure raw data, he was the master. So it was easy for him to see that Katashi had no clue where he was, as the Jonin was looking in exactly the wrong direction. But it was also painfully obvious that, upon inspection with the Byakugan, his shoulder had been just barely left on his body. The majority of the tendons had been ripped apart, and his better arm was now useless to him.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it!_

He sighed. Plan, plan, he needed a plan. He decided right of the bat that Heart Breaker was out of the question and now his Jyuken style would also be extremely hindered. So that left him with…

_Nothing._

There was nothing for it, but to except his fate like a man. He had already heard the explosive tags go off, and had checked to see how his escape rout looked. Completely demolished, and because he had not mastered tree walking, that meant he was trapped. He wondered for a minute if it was Hitomi or the enemy that had set off the exploding tags.

_Wait a minute!_

Hayato had a plan, if only the beginnings of one. First he gazed around the room, gauging distances with his Byakugan, which was relatively simple really. Then he calculated a few things…

_The radius of the room hasn't changed since we got here; the shape of the tower is not a cone, but a cylinder. So the room must be around three hundred meters in radius, as it was down below. Which would mean it is around 282743 meters in area. Divide that by the area of a pillar, and factor in the spaces between them, you get something like 1000 pillars. We knocked down two of them already…_

He then took stock of his ammunition.

_I have about thirty of the necessary tool, and with the new design too, that should help. I also have around ten shuriken, ten Kunai, and twenty meters of trip wire. Now what can I do with this?_

Hayato already knew what the first stage of the plan was going to be. Sighing, he got out from behind the pillar, throwing two shuriken at Katashi.

One of them went wide, missing altogether and landing on a pillar. The other went straight for Katashi's face, but with a flick of the wrist and an application of chakra, Katashi sent it straight back the way it came.

It landed two inches to the left of Hayato's head.

"Is that really the best you can do? Pathetic shuriken?"

"Not nearly."

Hayato ran towards Takashi, who widened his stance to compensate for the immanent force of impact. But then Hayato abruptly descended into a roll, landing right in front of Katashi, and did a leg sweep to knock him off balance. To Hayato's surprise, the maneuver worked, and Katashi fell to the floor. But Hayato had not expected the tactic to have any effect, and was unable to respond in time before Katashi barrel rolled out of the way. He proceeded to back flip back onto his feet, kicking Hayato in the face in the process.

Hayato flipped through the air as a result of this, landing with his feet on the side of a pillar, and jumping to intercept Tanaka. As he drew closer, the other ninja utilized his chakra to block the attack, sending Hayato flying into another pillar. Hayato made a grasping movement with one hand, as if trying to hold himself onto the pillar, but the attempt failed, and Hayato fell to the ground.

"Pathetic whelp, truly pathetic."

"Shut up!"

Hayato threw three kunai at the opposing ninja, who deflected them all, resulting in them hitting more pillars.

"At a level like this, there is no way you can kill that hated person. So who is it? Who's the lucky bastard that I'm going to save by ending your miserable existence?"

"There is no one!"

"Come on you can tell me. After all, we both know that one of us is leaving here in a body bag."

Hayato sighed, this might actually help.

"His name is Kimura, Jiro. He is my friend, my teammate, and my target."

XXX

Jiro ascended the final staircase to find himself on the top of the building. He had his Byakugan deactivated, but even without it he noticed something odd. The air around the tower was shimmering, as if by a residue of some subtle magic. He wondered if this was why he could breathe, despite being higher than the clouds.

"Well this _is_ a surprise. I never expected anyone to make it this far."

Jiro turned to face the man, putting on a stone face. The man was small in size, but Jiro could feel a strange power emanating from him, as if hell itself was at his command.

"You are an interesting looking child, sad, hopeful, despairing, and with your eyes on the future. All of this, I see in your eyes."

"Are you the one Triple M calls Master?"

He certainly fit the bill. Dark, covered in skin tight black clothing that completely covered his feet, hands, and corpse. He wore a mask over his face, that of a red faced demon with tusks like a bore. Only his eyes were visible to the world, and even these were an unremarkable shade of brown. His guise was cleverly calculated to hide his physical appearance down to the very last detail within human possibility, most likely to help him escape from any enemy combatants.

"Yes I am. Tell me boy, are you a Genin? Thought as much. Listen, you have no chance against me, fate is not on your side."

Jiro grimaced. "You sound like a Hyuga."

"Actually, my name is Hashimoto. Hashimoto, Daiki, ex-war priest of the Hashimoto clan."

To Jiro's surprise, he had actually heard of this guy. Twelve years ago, well before Jiro had been old enough to actually remember any of it, Daiki had inexplicitly been exiled from Konoha, as well as one of the most prominent clans in the village.

"Aren't you that priest that went crazy?"

"So is that how they depict me now? Perhaps they're right, maybe I am. But there is definitely one thing they don't say around the village. You, and I mean you specifically, could be crazy too."

Jiro pointed to his face with a bemused expression.

"Me?"

"I can see it your eyes, a tragic past. You and I are a lot alike; both of us were cursed by fate."

Jiro rolled his eyes. "Right, tragic past in my eyes. You left Konoha twelve years ago, meaning you were raised in that village. From my eyes you deduced that I was only half Hyuga, and therefore my past was miserable. Cut the mystic bull shit."

"Fate cursed me, fate cursed you. As a result I am considered insane, and you aren't far behind. Why did you come here?"

"I need to know more about Triple M. How many more hideouts you have, how many Shinobi, your purpose, ect. So how about we cut the crap and get down to business."

Daiki just shrugged. "Ok. You've met all my Shinobi, including myself, this is our only hideout, and our purpose is the mining of precious iron, which we ship to other nations for profit. Anything else?"

Jiro, to shocked to speak, just shuck his head. But then his voice managed to come back.

"Wait a minute, you're telling me that's all it took?"

"Well, your teammates went through hell to get you this far, so I might as well reward that."

"Hold on, I think I feel a 'but' coming on."

"But," Daiki smirked under that mask; Jiro could see it in his eyes. "You did not go through anything much, not personally anyway."

Hashimoto snapped his fingers, and the staircase lit on fire.

"So now earn your way out of here, by fighting me."

XXX

"Ok whelp, I can honesty say I wasn't expecting that. Why?"

Hayato sighed. He wouldn't have told this man anything if he wasn't so sure that one of them _was_ going to die. And several textbooks had told him that Shinobi were encouraged to go to therapy to relieve stress and maintain good mental health. Life or death situations like this had there advantages, instant stress relief! So, he took the opportunity.

"Simple really, I was given two missions, one from the Hokage, one from Hanabi."

There were two things Katashi loved to do. One was kill people in a torrential downpour of human blood and sinew, the other was listening to stories. And his isolation had left him devoid of something quite like this to please his ears for a long time. So he stood and listened.

"My official mission is what I'm doing now. Recon. Though by this point I guess it kind of escalated to an all out elimination. The other, less official mission was an assassination attempt."

Hayato had managed to keep his head up to this point, but now his voice was begging to waver.

"The target was the half-Uchiha, Jiro. And my mission couldn't have been easier. All I had to do was make myself look as if I had been overzealous in sparring match, make it get a little carried away, and Jiro would have died. I was doing just that when something went wrong…"

Hayato's eyes began to water. "I had him at my feet, and then I just couldn't do it! He was inches away from death, he wouldn't even know what hit him, and I couldn't go through with it! I wasn't strong enough…"

Hayato had descended to tears, when he felt a hand on his good shoulder. It was Katashi. Was he trying to comfort the wet eyed boy?

No, he was just getting into position for an attack. He shoved two fingers into Hayato's shoulder blades, and then slashed them out of the flesh.

"Yeah, yeah, really sad kid. Thanks for the story, but I'm not into that kind of angsty crap."

Hayato could see something changing in Tanaka's expression as the Jonin set his gaze towards the blood.

"Blood, from a bloodline. I've never spilled bloodline blood before!"

His eyes began to glaze over, and he dropped hi hand from Hayato's shoulder. He looked peaceful, but to one such as Hayato, who knew of such things, this peace was the calm before the storm.

Katashi was descending into his third stage, a blood rage.

"Let's spill more of that blood! I'll teach you to hate, to rage, to kill! Hate my existence, fear me, lash out! And if you can…"

The room was filled with an ominous aura, a Murderous Intent so powerful; the stones themselves seemed to shake in fear.

"…survive!"

Tanaka had finally done what he was threatening to do since the fight began; he had gone into his purest state of bloodlust, carnage, and madness.

He ran at a speed so fast that he appeared as nothing more than a rushing course of air. He sent an ax kick to Hayato's right shoulder, which the Genin dodged, only to get hit with a blow to the stomach from his foes outstretched arm. The blow sent him flying towards a pillar, but he recovered in time to land softly on it with his feet, avoiding demolishing it with his spine, and reversing the momentum back towards his foe.

He now had no use of his arms or at least no practical use because he couldn't move his shoulders without searing pain. But that didn't stop him, he sent kick after kick at Tanaka, but all were dodged. He tossed his sandals at the feral foe, which his enemy deflected.

But the real purpose of this had been to get his feet free. True he had never practiced Monkey Style Martial Arts, but he had no choice. He would have to try throwing shuriken with his feet.

He threw three shuriken, all of which went wide and landed in pillars without even coming close to hitting his foe. Katashi than ran towards Hayato, fast as the wind, and unleashed a barrage of punches. With each punch he ran to the Genin's other side, so that he punched the stomach, then the spine, than the stomach again. In this manner, he was able to unleash a flurry of punches without giving his prey a chance to escape.

But even in that rage, he grew tired eventually, leaving the child with three broken ribs, and a fractured arm. Hayato fell to the ground in immeasurable pain.

"Not yet… I'm not done yet"

He got up nervously. It was time to use a secret Jutsu given to him by a certain Hyuga woman.

"_Use this when you have to move beyond your limits, when your life and your mission are in danger. But be careful not to show it to anyone else, it's a forbidden technique."_

That's what she had said. He had only been eight at the time, barely old enough to formally start learning Jyuken, yet still well on his way to being a master, but still he had thought to ask:

"_But why is it forbidden?"_

_She looked away, as if a little guilty, but then shook it off. The head of the Hyuga clan had no need for such emotions as remorse. This boy was to be her weapon…_

"_Because using this Jutsu is very dangerous. If you use it, it becomes much too easy to die."_

Hayato had learned that Jutsu, and mastered it, all for the sake of his clan. To be a weapon until the day he died. Somehow, the thought of being a tool had never crossed his mind; he was just doing his part, for the good of the clan. But still, he had never used that Jutsu, he knew it was nothing to take lightly; it would be so easy for it to kill him. It was only to be used if necessary. But now…

He lifted up his arms, ignoring the pain that built up from it. The pain that was making his eyes water would soon be gone.

For a brief moment, he wondered why he had forgotten he even knew this Jutsu. Why only now these memories were asserting themselves so clearly in his head. Why they seemed like they happened just yesterday after five long years…

He made ten hand signs.

"Ninja Art: Pain Release!"

XXX

The suspect had been apprehended, and had told them everything. Who he was, what he had learned, why he wanted Jiro dead. And the Anbu had used a Genjutsu to repress those memories, until Ichirou was nothing more than another Hyuga.

Naruto couldn't say he approved of some of the Anbu's practices, but he did know that they had there purpose, if only temporarily.

_What were you thinking Aimi…?_

There were many things in the life of a Hokage that were uncertain, but there were some things that Naruto knew for a fact. One of these things was that star crossed love never worked out.

"Neji, how's the child."

Neji had been walking down the halls of Konoha hospital to the appointed meeting place where he, Naruto, and the head of the hospital were to discuss this new development.

"The patient is stable; his new memories have taken a solid hold. But Naruto, you do know that this will only be temporary. I give him a maximum of three months before his memories reassert themselves. We should really just take him into custody, he threatened to commit murder."

The hospital head had her own thoughts on the matter.

"We can't do that to him now! With his memories all mixed up, he won't even know why he's in trouble. Besides, what he blames Jiro for, he was only desperate for a way out of that pain…"

"Sakura's right Neji. We know your idea may be the most practical, but it is not morally sound."

Neji sighed. "Ok sir, but I hope you realize what we're getting into here.

"Listen, the boy wouldn't cooperate very much. He resisted arrest, and almost outclassed _me _in Jyuken."

This was met with looks of pure astonishment from both Naruto and Sakura.

"No way!"

"No, I'm serious. It's actually a little scary; a boy that age should only have about five years of practice, and one year of practical experience. We questioned him of course, but even Ibiki couldn't pry much from him. But from what I could piece together, we have a problem, more problems than you think."

XXX

Hayato felt an odd sensation flow through his body. He felt numb, as if someone had blocked off all his chakra points, but incredibly strong at the same time. The pain from his wounds was entirely gone.

"_It's a Jutsu that temporarily relieves pain. But I want you to understand that it doesn't fix the damage done to the body. Pain exists to keep you from causing damage to your body to get worse. That is why you must only use this in an emergency"_

He dodged Tanaka's attempt to hit him by jumping into the air, and back flipping over his enemy. He proceeded to deliver three Jyuken strikes to his foe's Tenketsu. It felt so weird to see his broken arm bend in impossible ways, yet feel nothing…

He took out three shuriken and three Kunai, holding them each in between his fingers, three in each hand.

"_I understand, Lady Hanabi."_

Indeed he did. He understood perfectly.

He tossed the weapons, not even bothering to conceal his true intentions from his brainless enemy. Each weapon struck a pillar, not even pretending the feral man was their target.

Hayato stood his ground as Tanaka rushed towards him, fingers looking as if he planned to tear Hayato's flesh off. Hayato deflected the blast with his broken arm, successfully sending the enemy flying.

And sending shards of his own bones strait through his skin.

_Damn!_

The arm didn't hurt, but Hayato knew it was a serious injury.

He sent out another wave of projectiles, one shuriken and five kunai, the last of his stash. All hit pillars.

Then Hayato was a blur of movement. He ran circles around his enemy, who was having understandable trouble predicting his movements, given his situation. Hayato tied string after invisible string together, jumping from pillar to pillar, until finally he had used most of his wire, and all but one of his exploding tags.

He rushed to meet his enemy, who caught him in a bear hug. Hayato winced in shock as he saw three of his ribs burst out through the skin…

"Take this!"

He slammed one explosive tag, the epicenter of a whirling mass of string, into his foe's chest. In surprise, the raging fool let go, and Hayato jumped three feet away to safety.

Hayato pulled back his arms, and all the strings floating in the air around his enemy tightened their hold on the mindless oaf. Reinforcing it with a careful application of chakra, administered from a wire tied around hi left pinky, the thin things managed to hold true. Hayato backed away another ten meters.

After ten minutes of struggling against his bonds, the ninja in the hold began o calm down. His mind began to resurface.

"W-what…?"

Hayato smirked. "I'm glad you finally woke up, my Pain Release won't last another five minutes. But I wanted you to be awake to see this.

"See all those 'pathetic shuriken' were _supposed_ to miss. They each had camouflaged exploding tags on them. Genjutsu release!"

With a small application of chakra, the tags revealed themselves.

"Like them? They're a new test product, highly experimental, but I have to say I like the results. You're currently standing in the exact center of two concentric circles of explosives."

A look of fear quickly came over Katashi's eyes, and then just as quickly vanished.

"Bullshit! You're only ten meters away, still well within range. The tags are fake."

"No they're not. With every kunai, every shuriken, and every time I touched a pillar, I placed an exploding tag. Yes, even with my feet. But to interconnect them, to set them all off on command, I had to use wire to connect them all, leaving me with only ten meters of clearance."

The Jutsu was going to wear off in two minutes; he had to get them to go off before then if he wanted it to be painless.

"You're bluffing!"

"Screw it, explaining to you is taking too long. Die!"

A quick burst of chakra through the wire, and the tags ignited in a devastating blast.

XXX

Hitomi finished tending to her sensei, and hopped nothing else would go wrong.

Then she heard the explosion, and then a section of the roof caved in. She had no idea what caused it, and had been lucky enough to be far away from the section that fell. Still, she had to check it out.

She ran to the rubble as soon as the dust cleared. She saw a scorch mark on many of the rocks closer to the center of the blast, one of which, the one in the exact center, smelled suspiciously like burnt flesh. But the outer rim of the ten meter circle was comparatively unharmed. It was there that she found it.

Hayato's body was severely burned, had some bones from the right arm and ribs sticking out, and showed evidence of having been bleeding profusely from these areas. But whatever had burnt the body had cauterized the wounds.

She recognized him instantly, and ran over to him, then hesitated. She had a tough choice to make. Why should she save him, he was a Hyuga, and he hated her. But one look at his face dispelled all thoughts of this from her mind.

_By the Gods!_

He was more than a Hyuga, he was human. That meant she couldn't live with herself if she let him die.

XXX

A/N: Now we're getting back on track! Chapter length trend is heading back in the right direction. Next chapter is the last in this story arch, and then it is back to Konoha.

Also, the whole interaction between Hayato and Katashi in which Hayato describes his mission is, of course, an important revelation. But the whole, therapy/liking to listen to stories thing, was supposed to be a joke making fun of how people in Anime and Manga always seem to have these huge emotional moments in the middle of fighting. It didn't turn out very well, but oh well, can't be helped.

Also (enough with the 'also's!), a little hint, Hayato's memories did not just resurface out of shock/desperation.

Next time: What makes a man insane? Is it fate, or something else? And what _is_ a warrior priest? Jiro's about to get an answer.


	17. Jiro VS Daiki

**Jiro V.S. Daiki**

Jiro took a single breath to cleanse himself. He felt all his tension, trying to release it all into the air.

He quickly took another cleansing breath.

_There is absolutely no way I can do this!_

This fight was different in almost no way from the previous trials. Sure his friends weren't here to bale him out this time, but he had never needed them to before, except that he couldn't afford distractions as he ascended the tower.

What truly made this fight different was that this ninja was from Konoha. Jiro _knew _the things this enemy was capable of. Well, that would be a lie; he didn't know _exactly _what Daiki was capable of. The Hashimoto clan made big boasts about their abilities, without presenting any real evidence. Plus, individuals would vary in power, as anyone would expect them to.

But Jiro knew what _kind_ of ability his new enemy would use, and it sent a shiver down his spine.

"Kid, I want you to go all out. After all, you'll need to."

A small amount of red began to show on the black cloth by the man's thumbs.

_It's coming!_

The man made a series of hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Ten black ravens shot out from a puff of smoke around the man's bleeding finger, and flung themselves like missiles at the young Genin.

_Birds? He's not supposed to summon birds…_

Jiro took out four shuriken, and closed his eyes.

"Byakugan!"

He tossed the Shuriken in a wide arc, intentionally missing the birds, but not aiming for the ninja.

As the ravens descended upon him, he sent a kick to his front, intercepting two of the birds.

"First!"

He let the kick fall to the ground, utilizing the momentum from the spin to pivot on that foot. This allowed him to kick out behind his back with a kick even faster than the one before, by using the momentum from the first and adding force to the second. It intercepted another two birds, sending them flying even further.

"Second!"

He allowed this foot to also fall to the ground. Utilizing the even greater momentum from this kick and adding more force to the next one, he attained the greatest speed he could currently maintain without losing his balance.

He intercepted another two birds.

"Third! Three Kicks Barrage!"

He landed with his back turned to the enemy, observing the last four birds with his Byakugan.

The shuriken finished their arc, having now curved back full circle, pinning the four remaining birds to the ground upon impact.

"Full Moon Shadow."

The plan was perfectly executed, until an unexpected occurrence occurred.

The birds he had hit with his feet disappeared in a puff of smoke before hitting the ground, to be replaced with smiling imps. Each one had a uniform appearance, red skin, black eyes, leathery wings, small size, and little protruding horns.

The ones pegged to shuriken disappeared, still unable to continue fighting even after the transformation. But the ones who were not pinned to the ground raised their fingers. A small dot of black fire appeared on the end of them.

Daiki smiled. "Illusion Bird and Infernal Flame."

The imps fired small black blazes at Jiro, each one a third the width of a human finger. But with his Byakugan, Jiro instantly saw the amount of chakra contained within, and the urgency with which he needed to dodge.

He jumped into the air, the fire blasts all impacted at the exact same location underneath him. And then they all redirected in one much bigger beam of flame, straight at him.

_Shit!_

Jiro urgently made hand signs, and took the blast head on. Only to disappear with a puff of smoke, replaced with one of the imps.

"Kyyyyah!" it screamed, as it was dispersed back to its own world.

"So, this is the best your clan can do?" Jiro mocked, as he reappeared behind one of the imps. He sent a quick jab of the elbow to its head, and the vile thing disappeared. Jiro also disappeared, moving quickly to another imp, which he dispersed with an ax kick.

In this manner he destroyed the demons before they even got a chance to react.

"No my child, that was not the best _I_ can do. As form my former clan, I don't know. A few of them were quite weak. But against me, that was just a quick warm up.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

The man placed his hands to the ground this time. Jiro was no expert in summoning, but he was pretty sure the little runes around the finger weren't supposed to spread beyond a small little circle. Yet, this summons required the use of the entire platform.

_Oh crud._

Twenty large arms, easily as tall as half the tower (though not as wide) burst from the floor. They were wrapped in bandages of a decayed yellow color, except around the talon like fingers, which looked as if they had been painted red with blood.

They seemed to have little to no skeletal structure, they bended in impossible ways. They bent towards Jiro, who found himself surrounded now by a forest of dancing limbs.

"This technique is known as Dante's Forest, _child_."

XXX

Atsushi loved life in prison. After all, it beat being dead.

He had been placed in solitary confinement for the past ten days in a dreary little cell. His guard was a fellow Uchiha, who had his Sharingan constantly active. They rotated in shifts, one taking the place of the other every eight hours.

This was, of course, based of the assumption that a non-Sharingan user would be entirely helpless against his mind controlling techniques. To be fair, that in itself was accurate. But the assumption that anyone using Sharingan was automatically immune, that one needed some work.

He had been living in comparable comfort, at least compared to what other prisoners might expect. His now controlled servants were given many subconscious cues before leaving each day, to ensure they did things for him even after the Jutsu wore off, which it would if he wasn't present to reinforce it after sixteen hours. Such commands included the brining in of better food, communicating his plans to his allies, and of course forgetting that they had been under a Genjutsu at all.

The Sharingan eye did not provide automatic immunity to his favorite Jutsu, which is why his daughter's abilities troubled him.

_How could she have done that? She couldn't have resisted the technique, even with Sharingan. Her age, and her submissive personality…_

Atsushi characterized his daughter in such a way because se had always been a perfect little girl around him. Always doing what she was told out of respect, or perhaps fear.

He had quickly decided that it must have been a shock to her system, produced by the first activation of an ability her mind and body had only just then experienced. After all, she couldn't possibly posses the strong will necessary to defy his Jutsu. No one did.

He glanced to his plan, the blueprint of which was drawn on the walls in white chalk, courtesy of one of the guards.

No, she would not be a problem. She could easily be dealt with. All in time, all in good time…

XXX

Jiro quickly gathered chakra in his feet to help him evade the attack. He jumped to the right as one of the large, taloned hands came down at him. He landed on the curved appendage of another malicious force. Instinctively jumping away as this hand's claws came rushing down; he was surprised to see the claws making an impact on the arm, sending torrents of this odd looking black blood down on the roof top below. The arm disappeared in a burst of smoke.

He jumped higher and higher, until his head almost touched the shimmering dome that was his source of air. On the way up, he had caused the destruction of three more arms.

He bounced down to the floor below, destroying another arm in the process. Dante's Forest had one very obvious flaw. The arms had to follow him wherever he went.

He ran at his full speed, and was behind his foe in a blink of the eye. He sent his arms to the ground, using them as leverage, and sent his left foot to the summoner's face. Hashimoto caught it, only to be met by an amused snicker.

"What's so funny?"

"I wasn't trying to hit you. That was just a distraction."

"What!"

Hashimoto turned his head to his back, and saw the hands of the forest heading strait towards his now helpless body.

He smiled.

"Now, who was it you said was trapped?"

Jiro watched in horror as the arms began to curve around the summoner. He pulled his foot away, bent low to the ground, and pushed himself up with all four of his limbs.

Five of the arms went around Hashimoto and followed him directly strait up through the air. Another five curved up before meeting with Daiki, and curved back down in an attempt to hit Jiro from over head. The last five curved all around the floor of the arena, making a tangled web he was sure to fall into if he managed to make it back to the ground.

Jiro closed his eyes, allowing the Byakugan to see through. He felt at peace with his eyes closed, as if the world could no longer peer into his soul. He began his decent, upside down.

Jiro used a burst of wind chakra to push himself to the right as a hand fell down towards him. He did the same to dodge to the left as a second hand attempted to grab him. The hand shot strait into the first one's arm, as Jiro landed on the second arm. He quickly jumped away, allowing his body to fall as a third arm attempted to shoot straight through the one he had been on in an attempt to get to him. He felt the air from the force of the arm as he fell, inches away from this most recent attack.

_To summon such powerful creatures, the Hashimoto clan wasn't boasting. He's bringing hell itself to our world!_

Jiro dodged another arm trying to hit him from below, throwing a Kunai with three exploding tags on it, which detonated with just enough force to destroy the arm. He sent another explosion packed kunai to the third arm, destroying it. He flipped back right side up again as another decaying limb fell at him, as a sixth appendage rose up from the ground at the exact same point.

Jiro found himself trapped between the interlocking grips of to limbs, soon to be crushed. He placed his arms to the ceiling like hand, and concentrated. He concentrated on something his sensei had taught him, his _other_ sensei.

"_The body limits how much energy it naturally utilizes from its stamina to about twenty percent of the energy that could be extracted from it, in order to keep from tearing itself apart. The limiters in the body that control this are called The Eight Chakra Gates. To release yourself from the hold of these limits is the ultimate technique of our Strong Fist style!"_

"_That sounds dangerous sensei…"_

"_Indeed it is, if you release all eight gates, you will die."_

"_Gyahhh! Is that really something you should be teaching to an academy student?"_

_His sensei raised his hand, adopting his famous nice guy pose._

"_Do not worry; I am only going to teach you to release one gate. But be warned, this still puts a lot of stress on your body. Only use it against an _enemy_ Shinobi!"_

Jiro could feel the power flowing through him. It felt as if he were fifty percent stronger than before. He pushed against the hand above him, noting that it seemed to be much lighter than he would expect. Still extremely heavy, but lighter than expected.

_I won't let you down Masato-sensei, Lee-sensei!_

He gave a mighty punch, creating a small gap for him to escape through. The hands collapsed against each other, disappearing with a bellow of smoke. He fell to the ground, meeting the remaining four rising and falling hands on the way down. But with his first gate still released, he was easily able to dodge each one, causing them to destroy each other.

He landed with a sharp impact, and sent his body in motion. Before any of the hands could begin moving, he rapidly ran under Daiki. A swift kick sent him into the air, and a swifter jump sent him strait behind his foe, right in Hashimoto's shadow.

Jiro took medical bandages from his supply kit, and wrapped them around his enemy in the blink of an eye. He grabbed his opponent, and they descended in a spin. At the last minute, Jiro abandoned Daiki, and jumped to safety.

"Primary Lotus!"

Daiki's body slammed to the ground, creating a massive crater. But then it transformed into a demon wielding a massive sword.

"Demon Clone: Zanbato!"

The demon got up, brushing off the dust as if unharmed. Jiro opened his eyes in shock; the chakra emanating from it was enormous. A few feet away, the real Daiki was seen to be panting.

_So you are getting tired? Summoning these demons seems to take quite a toll._

Jiro collapsed on the ground in pain.

"Gyyyyahhh!"

_Of course… My lotus techniques would take quite a toll as well!_

XXX

Hitomi knew next to nothing about medical techniques. But she did know that Hayato was bleeding too profusely. His only hope was for her to stop, or at least slow, the bleeding.

She got out her medical kit, a must for any ninja. But she found she had a problem, Hayato's bones made it difficult to wrap up the wounds.

It was times like these she almost wished _she_ had Byakugan.

"Sharingan!"

She looked first to the arm. Though vital to a ninja, it was not vital to living. Therefore, if she did something wrong here, it was more like practice.

She analyzed the bulges in the skin, determining the points where the bones were supposed to meet. She grasped the solid white, yet blood stained bone and began to push it back into place.

She heard a suspicious tearing sound.

_That can't be good._

Still, she did manage to force the bones back into place; it would do as a temporary measure. She wrapped his arm in bandages, using up a whole roll in the process. The blood stain still got through to the surface.

Then it was time for the ribs. She could only hope she managed to get those back in place without puncturing the lunges, or perhaps the heart…

_Focus!_

She gingerly pushed one of the ribs with her finger, while directing it with her other hand. It moved from the flesh with a sickening squelching sound. It made Hitomi want to vomit, but her sensei had done enough of that already, so she held it down.

After a while, she had managed to get all the bones out of the way, and had wrapped up Hayato's chest with a large supply of bandages.

Now she had to choose.

She couldn't carry them both, and Hayato needed urgent medical attention. The base was close to the boarder between the lands of Rice and Fire, if she hurried, she might still save him. But if she did that, she would have to abandon her unconscious sensei. Abandon her sensei, for the good of a Hyuga? Somehow, the very notion seemed absurd.

"By the Gods!"

She had made her choice when she choose to dress Hayato's wounds. He was the one most urgently needing help, and besides, her sensei was not likely to be hurt. She had to wonder if piercing his skin was even possible.

She picked Hayato up, careful not to move his newly placed bones, and ran down the stairs.

Hayato's life rested within her hands.

XXX

Jiro fought his way through the pain as the Zanbato wielding demon approached. He ran over to the side of the arena, his speed severely inhibited by his body's unwillingness to continue.

_Just a little more, just a little more!_

He began to gather wind chakra around his body, using it to draw in air. He knew it was about to become a premium very soon.

As he approached the side of the arena, he half noted that the dome of air was created by several small imps placed in a circular pattern around the roof. Then he walked of the edge.

"Is that boy crazy? A ripe Genin… Surely he couldn't…"

Hashimoto walked lazily over to the edge of the building, dismissing the remains of his forest. The boy was never inhibited by it. He looked down the edge.

Sure enough, Jiro had stuck to the sides, walking down a good distance so as to avoid being an easy target.

He had a limited supply of air, but as long as his dome held out, he could wait down there for the ill effects of using the first gate to die down. The demon of the Zanbato lacked wings, its weapon being too heavy to fly with in the first place.

But Hashimoto wasn't one to give in. He dismissed the demon, and began making hand signs.

"Summoning Jutsu! Illusion Birds!"

He shot a group of three birds at Jiro, who began to focus his chakra.

"Wind Style: Long Arm Jutsu!"

He made six half-hazard punches, two air currents from each hitting each bird, transforming it back into an imp, and then destroying it. The punches didn't even disturb his rest, since all the power came from the air.

_Done, my muscles should be fine now!_

Hashimoto laughed.

"Hey kid, do you know why they call me insane? Because I had a destiny and then fate took it away."

"Wind Style: Long Arm Jutsu!"

Jiro had sent the air with a curve, and it was heading perfectly over the edge towards Hashimoto.

"Blyyyyaaaaaaaahhhhh!"

Jiro smiled, Daiki had obviously underestimated him. He quickly ran back up the wall, running in a curve so as to get back up a good ways away from Daiki.

His enemy's shirt had been torn, but he was otherwise fine.

"Hey, my little Jutsu catch you by surprise? This is an easy little C-rank technique, but still, effective. It allows me to create air currents, which I can then control the flight path of"

"You bastard! I'll kill you!"

They man gave off a surge of chakra. Jiro noted that some of Daiki's incredibly pale skin had been revealed around the chest. It had a strange tattoo around it, a single kanji meaning "greed" with a large amount of letters that Jiro couldn't recognize flaring out from it in five repeating patterns, like tendrils of blood.

Then Hashimoto snapped his fingers, and Jiro ceased to be able to see. The dome around the arena had become opaque, completely reflecting all sources of light. And without any light, even Byakugan was blind.

"Do you know what happened on that day, just over twelve years ago? I bet anything you don't know!"

Jiro closed his eyes, deactivating his Byakugan to conserve chakra.

_Feel the vibrations in the air, as he moves, you will see it. Or better yet, follow the sound of his voice._

"I was destined to lead my clan into a new age. I was prophesized by the Mori clan's **Tenkei Shiryoku to be the one who would open the gate to the ninth apocalypse, and lead the Gods themselves down to Earth."**

**Jiro lunged for the voice, only to hit thin air.**

**_He's using some sort of ventriloquist technique…_**

**He felt a slight vibration in the air, and could smell a sulfuric smell. He turned to rush down his enemy, only to hit something that burnt his hand.**

He got hit twice with red hot fists, ones that felt as if they were the size of armored plates. He flew backwards, suffering minor burns.

"It was to happen when I was twelve. I would open the gate, and bring the Gods to our world. I was a hero, and then I was not."

Jiro threw three shuriken at the beast, only to hear an ominous hissing sound. He had a feeling picking up those shuriken was going to be an ill-advised task.

"My thirteenth birthday came and went. I tried hard, I really did! But no matter what I did, I couldn't summon the gate."

Jiro felt heat in the vibrations of the air. Whatever Hashimoto had summoned, it was headed his way. He couldn't tell what it was going to do; his blind sight was not so refined. But he could feel the general movements, and so with more broad dodges, he could get out of the way.

"Do you know what happened that day, over twelve years ago? My son was born. He's a hero to the Hashimoto clan you know."

Jiro dodged left, then right, and then left again. He sent two Kunai with exploding notes on them at the enemy, hearing them go off almost instantly. But he felt more vibrations in the air. Whatever it was, it stood up against _two _exploding notes.

"Do you know why he's a hero? Because on that day, the Mori clan finally decided to get their prophecies strait! It wasn't me in the prophesy, it was my son!"

Jiro made five hand signs, and charged fire chakra in his had.

_By the light of this Phoenix Fire, I should be able to see!_

"Byakugan!"

Even with such a small illumination, Jiro was able to see. The newest summon was a small little gremlin in body, but its hands were over three times that size. But where was Daiki?

_Of course!_

Jiro ran over to the edge, and jumped off. Instantly, the world became illuminated, and he saw Hashimoto hanging of the ledge.

He tossed his fire, which gave Daiki no time to dodge.

Jiro didn't hear the ear piercing scream; he just began to formulate a plan. He tied some wire to his shuriken.

_Only got one shot at this…_

He tossed the shuriken twenty meters into the air. It had used up all his wire and still it might not make it. Closer, closer it drew, until finally.

_Success!_

XXX

"Hanabi!"

Hanabi had just been finishing up her report on her last mission, entering the village, when she heard his voice. The voice she hated almost as much as that damn Uchiha's.

"What do you want, traitor!"

She turned to face him, the bastard known as Neji. Only to be starred down by a Byakugan more powerful than her own, an evil eye so powerful she almost forgot how to breathe.

Then she composed herself.

"What do you want, traitor."

"I want an explanation. What is 'Weapon'?"

She didn't let it show on her face, but Hanabi was beginning to feel this conversation was going in a worrisome direction.

"I have no idea what you're-"

"Don't play dumb with me! We captured Ichirou."

_Crap…_

She could do nothing but ask. "What did you do with him? He's a valued member of the main house, who completes all his missions with the utmost efficiency. If he is harmed, it won't be good on your end politically."

Neji sighed. "Listen, no harm has come to him. We temporarily blocked off some unwanted memories. Memories, might I add, that would lead him to kill Jiro."

"You must be mistaken. I've told him nothing-"

"He mentioned a project called 'Weapon.' He wouldn't give us details, but he _did_ let the name slip. You know something we don't."

She smirked. "Prove it."

Neji sighed, walking off on his own. Then he stopped.

"The child had remarkable ability. If left to grow any stronger, he could soon surpass even me."

He didn't even turn around to face her.

"Seems suspicious to me. I have nothing more to say on the subject."

Neji continued on his way, leaving Hanabi very bewildered as to what her next move should be. She settled for waiting until she got back to the Hyuga complex, and started back on her way home.

She completely forgot to file that report.

XXX

Jiro was sick of this fight. He sent three strikes with his Long Arm Jutsu, knocking the wingless demon over the edge of the building. It fell without making a sound.

The dome had turned see through again. But even if it hadn't, Jiro would have had no shortage of light. As soon as Jiro had pulled his act as a human spider, he saw that Daiki was having a hell of a time trying to get rid of his flame. Within moments, the suit had completely burned away.

It left behind a sight no one would want to see.

"Oh, by the Gods! I'm never using a fire Jutsu again if all my enemies are going to let it burn their cloths off! You're not decent!"

Hashimoto began to laugh hysterically. With his Byakugan, Jiro began to notice an increase in activity around the seal on his chest. The strange tendrils of impossible to read symbols extended practically everywhere on his body, one extending to each limb and the last extending up to his face.

Then Hashimoto's mask fell off.

It was a relatively unremarkable face. The type of face that you would usually forget instantly, because it had no distinguishing features. But this was a face Jiro would remember forever. Because of the eyes, the eyes that emanated a deep seated madness.

"Tell me child! Do you ever want to spit right in fates eye? To show the world that your destiny isn't fixed? I want to, and I shall! I shall bring the Gods down to our world without the gate! One by one, starting with the Demon-God: Greed!"

Hashimoto held out his hands to his sides, and they erupted with blood. He began to make hand signs, twenty rapid symbols to summon one of the greatest demons in this world or the next.

"Ultimate Summoning-"

"Are you insane?"

"Life Death, Sin-"

"Don't do it!"

"Ultimate Sacrifice!"

Even as Jiro ran he knew it was too late. Hashimoto placed his hand the exact center of his chest, where the kanji for 'greed' was located. A powerful Murderous Intent began to emanate from it, the kind that could only be obtained over the course of millennia.

"Die!"

Chakra began to burst from the seal, encasing the entire arena in an aura of malice. It felt heavy, unsurpassable, like the weight of the world was on Jiro's shoulders, and the world was getting heavier.

"Heheheheeahahahah!"

More power began to emanate from the seal, and Jiro began to hear the very earth beneath his feet crack apart…

XXX

Hitomi was almost a kilometer away when she heard it. She looked back over her shoulder, where the tower was still readily visible.

Their were large cracks running up and down the tower, as if some giant hand was trying to crush it. But whether or not that was true, it was soon obvious that it was about to succeed.

"Jiro! Masato-sensei!"

There was a thunderous crack, and a large cloud of dust appeared around the tower. When it cleared, Hitomi could no longer see it.

"Jiro!"

XXX

Jiro looked to his enemy with his Byakugan, only to be forced to deactivate it, and clasp his eyes shut with pain. He rolled over on the ground; such was the pain in his head.

_His chakra suddenly skyrocketed. Looking at it is like being stabbed, like looking at the sun!_

Then he felt a strange sensation, like falling. Only he was as light as a feather…

After a few minutes, he tried to open his eyes, only to meet a large maelstrom of dust. Without his Byakugan, there was no way to see through it, but activating that ability wasn't an option. And with all the noise around him, the falling of stones, the shifting of sand, he couldn't use his blind sight ability.

_But where did it all come from?_

The sand began to settle. He saw the face of Hashimoto.

The look in his eyes was no longer mad, but instead, calculating. A voice emanated from it that was not it's own

"Well, it looks like the fool used the Hashimoto clan's secret technique. Didn't they put a forbidden label on it after the eighth apocalypse? I didn't know anyone still knew how to perform it…"

Jiro got back on to his feet, taking a look around. The tower had been completely demolished, torn to the ground, by his new enemy.

"That feeling of falling, was real? How did I not die?"

Hashimoto looked to his enemy turned minor nuisance.

"I'm not called Greed for nothing kid! It would be a shame to let such an asset go to waste."

"So, you're really-"

"That's right. Your old pal Daiki is gone! I'm the one and only, Greed!"

_Hashimoto's been possessed._

"Listen kid, I have an offer for you. Those of us down in hell, we see things, you understand? We know of you, how you have the powers of both the Uchiha, and the Hyuga. A rare prize indeed, unique, one of a kind, a collector's item! If you come work for me, perhaps your dormant powers might become active…"

Jiro was dumbstruck. Did this demon have any idea what he was saying?

"You do realize of course, that I'm _not _a possession. I'm human."

"So, same difference really. All the better I say! Give me your allegiance, and I gain a grand soldier. And you, you gain a position of _real_ power. Even Hell has an aristocracy kid, and I'm a well established part of it. Serving under me would give you the power to strike down your enemies!"

"Not interested!"

Jiro slipped into his String Arm stance.

"Well then, I'll give you one last chance kid. I'm the fifth general of hell; I have more than enough power to crush you. But serve under me as an officer, and none of those humans that hate you will ever get a chance to hurt you again!"

"I refuse!"

Greed sighed.

"Then I guess I'll just have to kill you."

The rubble around the ground was a mixture of very small grains of sand, and very large chunks of solid stone. Greed held out his left hand to one of the larger chunks, twenty meters tall, and ten meters thick at its widest base.

"I have the power to control gravity, make things heavier, lighter, or even redirect the pull between two objects. By making gravity flow sideways-"

The stone instantly shot strait into his outstretched hand, stopping as it hit his flat palm.

"I can basically simulate telekinesis, and throw very large very heavy objects with no effort."

Greed turned, and the stone turned with him. It was embedded five meters into the ground, making effectively fifteen meters tall. But despite this, it just continued to move with his arm, carving up a trench like a Cerberus claw.

As soon as the stone was pointed directly at Jiro, it launched with incredible speed. There was no way he was getting out of the way in time, unless…

He began to focus chakra to his feet, and ran strait up the side of the rock. Only to be hit strait in the chest by a much faster, smaller rock.

"Gyaahh!"

He fell to the Earth with a solid thud. Rocks began to shoot strait towards him from all sides, but strangely, none of them were as big as the first one Greed had tried to move had been.

Jiro dodged left, placed all his limbs to the ground to jump up as high as possible, and kicked several small stones out of the way.

_I don't get it. These small rocks are a very low threat, yet he assaults me directly with these, and shoots the bigger rocks like missiles. Is he toying with me? No, it's something else…_

Jiro fell to the ground, a lot harder than expected. He couldn't seem to move, he felt so heavy…

Suddenly he was released from this hold, just before it could begin to crush his bones. He slowly got up, panting.

"What-"

"All it really takes is a bit of force tying you to the ground, and humans become so helpless. Give up now, and come willingly. If you do, we get to do all those fun little things I promised. If you don't, I'll just cause your stomach to gravitate to your brain, and laugh my ass off as either your brain or your stomach burst open. It'll be extra funny if your stomach bursts because then I get to watch as the acid melts your inner organs. Then I'll take your soul. So basically surrender and live a little longer, or die. Either way, you're mine!"

_He talks about attracting things together. Is that the secret to how his power works? The difference between gravity and telekinesis is that gravity is manipulating the attraction between mater. If that was the case, and because of his powers he was to be treated as completely inert, he could only cause objects with a smaller size to go directly to or away from me. Still, doesn't really solve my problem…_

He began to have a thought.

_What if?_

He formulated a plan.

"Wind Style: Long Arm Jutsu!"

He sent a wave of wind at his enemy, which instantly flattened to the ground. Jiro rushed over at full speed jumped into the air, back flipped, landed to the ground, and tried to sweep kick the legs out from under his opponent, only to find them so stuck to the ground that he couldn't seem to lift them.

_My Jutsu failed, but did he redirect the air, or the chakra?_

Jiro sent more bursts of wind, this time much larger, and sent them through the dust so that they became visible. Once again, the wind was pushed down, this time along with the dust, but this seemed to distract Greed to much to allow him to continue to hold Jiro's legs down.

Jiro jumped to safety.

"Give it _up_. I'm immortal you idiot! I can't be killed by such weak, _human_ techniques, and you can't win!"

_Then why does he bother to hold me back?_

Jiro made five hand signs.

"Greed, just be glad your name isn't Pride, because this may get a bit embarrassing."

Jiro began to charge fire into the palm of his hand, which began to take on the shape of a bird.

"Fire Style: Flying Phoenix Jutsu!"

Jiro threw the bird, and it stretched its wings. It flew towards Greed, unabated by any sort of gravitational effects.

_If I lose sight of him in this mess, I won't be able to use Byakugan to find him. Using this Jutsu without it is risky._

Greed dodged, only to find the bird turned in midair to meet him.

"What!"

It hit him, and detonated with force greater than the average exploding tag.

Jiro fell to the ground.

_Damn! I've used up too much chakra!_

Greed was flung strait into one of the largest stones, with such force that the stone shifted ten feet. Under it was a certain Jonin-sensei.

Jiro walked over to Greed, not noticing Masato. His limbs felt weak, his strides were with effort, but still he stood.

Greed wasn't so lucky. His head had been snapped clean open on impact.

But still he laughed.

"Very good kid, you figured it all out. I suppose it was a little obvious from all the effort I was putting into not being hit that I needed this mortal body to go on living to stay in this world. But tell me, how did you know that chakra wasn't affected by gravity"

"The tree climbing exercise is difficult because it requires you to focus chakra to your feet. Therefore, chakra has a tendency to go up. So it must not be pulled down by gravity."

"Ha! Very good. I'm not going to be able to keep this body beyond the mortal limit much longer. But be warned kid, this changes nothing. If anything, you just became more valuable. All you just did was send me back to Hell, I'm not dieing so soon. I will have those eyes!"

Then Greed began to sense something, and diverted his gaze to Masato's body. He was just beginning to regain consciousness.

"Well that's a surprise. The fact that he could survive that fall, and this familiar chakra. You've got someone looking out for you that even the Demon-Gods might fear. But this changes-"

And with that Demon-God: Greed, and Hashimoto, Daiki died.

XXX

Hitomi could feel the drain on her stamina beginning to force its way past her consciousness, trying to force her into oblivion. But she could not rest, she was almost there!

She got to the gate, and the guards instantly came to the alert. For a minute, they eyed the Uchiha suspiciously. She was carrying a Hyuga Body.

She reached out her arms and Held Hayato forth to them.

"Please… Get him to a hospital!" she panted as the darkness came upon her.

"Yes, we better."

She collapsed upon the ground.

"And you too by the looks of it."

She smiled as they carried her, as her eye caught the six faces of the Hokage Mountain.

"We're finally home."

XXX

Masato put a hand to Jiro's shoulder, for support. Support for his body, and support for his student's mind.

"Let's go home, Jiro."

XXX

A/N: Yes, the arc is over! That makes two completed story arcs! Now on to another.

Now for information on Greed, and a bit on Hell (for the purpose of this story I mean, this is in no way religious doctrine, the very idea makes me want to vomit and laugh at the same time). Greed's name comes from one of the seven deadly sins. The idea for naming the seven demon generals of hell after Dante's seven deadly sins came from Full Metal Alchemist, of which I am a huge fan (and proud of it!). But that is where the similarities end. Greed's powers are a reference to Dante's Purgatorio, in which the Greedy were forced to lie down on the ground so as to learn how harmful Earthly desires can be. They were unable to move. So I took it a step further, and decided that they might be being crushed by a demon named Greed who can control Gravity.

Greed is one of the seven generals of Hell. Hell, in this story, is divided into a militaristic ranking system, with things like imps on the bottom, and the Demon-Gods on top (the tailed beasts, which I'm pretty sure are demons, are not included in the ranking system as they do not reside in Hell, as we have seen them on Earth). The seven generals are Demon-Gods who gained incredible power, and now rule over all other demons in Hell. The Generals rule independently from each other, and have subjects that are theirs alone to rule. But they are ranked by who is most powerful, with one being the greatest, and seven being the least. Despite this, Greed (in his real body, not the pathetic display seen here) is still one of the greatest beings in Hell, even if his Rank is Five.

Greed's powers are chakra based, but not elemental.

The Gods have been alluded to not be truly immortal in this chapter, even in their real bodies. More on the specifics latter, but just so you know, the Gods can be destroyed. So no, Greed is not the Ultimate enemy to end all enemies.

And a small bit on Jiro's new fire Jutsu. The technique can be used by anyone, requiring no bloodline. But it would be next to worthless for anyone without Byakugan, especially in Konoha, which is forested and therefore has a limiting field of vision for normal eyes.

On the next arc of Heritage. The Chunin exams are a few months away. Being Genin, the likelihood of getting interesting missions in that time is low. So what to do? Train of course!

On the next chapter of Heritage. Jiro finds himself home, but all is not well. He has been gone a while, and now he has three people to visit in the hospital. _"What is this rage I feel inside me? It feels… good!"_


	18. Going Home

A/N: My spell checker was really giving me problems this chapter. And I'm horribly reliant on it. So, sorry if there are more mistakes than usual.

**Going Home**

Jiro walked up to the gate, and sighed. No point feeling nostalgic, part of him liked being away from here more than he liked living in Konoha. But then there was the other part of him, the part that knew he would always be at home here. Because there _were _people who loved him.

Besides, he had only been gone for around eleven days.

"Jiro, I think you should know we were extremely fortunate in this mission. Normally, ninja of your level couldn't survive against Jonin. But, no one was hurt."

"What are you talking about?" interjected the guard. "The other two Genin on your team were admitted to the hospital just yesterday!"

"What!"

"Masato-sensei, did we miss something?"

_How could they have been hurt? Well, it couldn't have been Hitomi,_ thought Masato;_ she was fine when I passed out. It must be…_

"Jiro we need to go to the hospital, and check on Hayato."

XXX

Jiro rushed into the room. He looked around, trying to find his assumedly injured teammate. Then he heard a voice.

"Get these freakin' bandages off! I can hardly move in them!"

Jiro walked up to the source of the noise, exasperated by the fact that it was obviously Hayato, and worse, that he could actually tell it was Hayato. At least he was acting more like his normal self now.

Not that the bandages really seemed to inhibit his movements much. It was taking two medical ninja, each of which was likely Chunin in level, and one nurse to hold him down without injuring him.

The nurse spoke up. "Sit down boy! Your bones are still fragile, you'll break them again."

Jiro sighed, and activated his Byakugan. Sure enough, the boy had the remnants of broken bones, underneath perfectly unscarred skin. They were still in an obvious state of recuperation, but he would be just fine. So long as he just held still for a while.

Like that would ever happen.

"Ah, Jiro," said Masato as he finally caught up with his Genin, and noticed that he had his Byakugan activated. "Hayato looking ok?"

"Yes, remarkably so. There's evidence of severe skeletal injury, yet he would seem, outwardly at least, to be just fine. I have got to learn who it was that could have healed him so fast _and _so well, might save my life a million times to take measures to have him as my medic from now on."

He noticed something out of the corner of his white eyes.

"Hitomi? What are you doing here?"

"Extreme exhaustion, expected as much really, dragging that lazy Hyuga halfway across a country so fast. Isn't even grateful, I'd imagine."

Hayato didn't notice this exchange; one of the medics had given him a sedative, which knocked him out cold. Jiro rolled his eyes, and walked over to Hitomi.

"So, how long are you expecting to be here?"

"I don't have many real injuries; I should be fine by tomorrow. Only kept me so long because they feared I might have popped a blood vessel when I collapsed or something like that. By the way, don't be getting any ideas; you can't place a reservation for your medical ninja, especially not that one. Hayato was healed by Lady Sakura herself."

Jiro actually whistled at that. Sakura was a medical ninja who was at the very least on par with her old sensei, Lady Tsunade, who had invented half the currently used medical techniques. Even if you could place a reservation for a medical ninja, you wouldn't get much luck with her. She ran the hospital, and only treated the most severe of cases.

"Damn! How bad was he hurt?"

Hitomi proceeded to recount everything she knew of about what had occurred since she had been separated from the team. Masato seemed to have disappeared by the end of it, muttering something about "things to do" to anyone bothering to pay attention. A strange looking Tanto was strapped to his back, for the benefit of the observant. It would have allowed them some insight into what he might be doing. But no one was being observant that day.

XXX

He looked to the memorial of the dead. The names of many Shinobi of the Leaf-Village adorned it, like sorrow that was carved in the heart, a sorrow that turned the heart to stone. Masato knew his name was not on it, and knew that that too had cost something.

He heard the patter of footsteps, an exact clone of his own.

"Did you get what I asked for?"

One wood clone held up two large pieces of severed metal, and a sack of metal shards, meticulously gathered. Not a single one had been missed. The other clone held a body, which was only now beginning to leave its state of rigor mortis.

Masato sighed, to live costs life. A life of an enemy should have meant nothing, and yet…

Masato contemplated for a moment. A life for a life, was it really so simple? Was that all it took? He would have liked to think so, but he could not. He had been a Shinobi for two years, and still he was not used to it. He had to kill to stay alive on many of his missions. He would take their lives to keep his own. It was a payment he had to make. Once, twice, again, and again.

He hated it.

He stretched out his arm, and sent a small amount of Earth Chakra into the nearby ground. It wasn't life, but perhaps he could give something back. A proper grave, he had done no such thing before, but something about this one was different.

He placed the body into the grave, and placedthe sakura shards of steel around it like the petals of funeral flowers, or like the sweet embrace of one you once loved. He placed in Dosato's hands the remains of his sword, closing those now broken fingers which had not wanted to release it even in death. It seemed, for a second, as if the hand had truly gripped that sword on its own, as if it was clentched to it. Then the illusion faded.

_Probably a trick of the light._

He placed the two biggest pieces over the body, hiding it from veiw. Then with a clentch of his fist, Masato closed the grave around the body. He raised a stone to act as a marker. He considered it for a moment, wondering if it should be better, if it was too plain. He thought to maybe make it out of diamond, but felt somehow as if Dosato would not tolerate such an avaricious thing.

He knew exactly what to write on it, and produced a Kunai. It felt wrong to do this most personal part with his Chakra. He carved into the stone:

Here lies Dosato, Kenji

A man of valor and honor,

And his wife, Dosato, Hikari

A woman who would be his sword.

May they never be sepperated

Even in death.

Somehow, it all felt appropriate. Then a pale figure rose from the ground, as if th earth was not even there.

It was a woman in her thirties, pale as death, with hair of a silvery grey. She smilled, and said a few words.

"Thank you."

Then she was gone.

XXX

Jiro turned his head to look back at Hayato, almost unaware that his Byakugan was still active. With the power of the piercing eye, and the fifty meter radius, he noticed a doctor walking down the hal way outside, coming up to this second floor from the stairs below. He had a medical chart.

Jiro's eyes instantly widened.

_No!_

Jiro quickly began to run past the doctor, to the room indicated on the chart, his Byakugan deactivating as he went.

_No, no, no!_

He slid to a halt, and kicked down the door. And there she was.

Jiro's mother.

"Mom!"

He took her hand in his own, kneeling by her bed side. She was covered in bandages at seemingly random intervals on her body. There were a few unbandaged edges to her wounds, which Jiro recognized on site as Kunai bassed.

"Mom…"

He felt hatred boiling up within him. There were only two people who could have done this to her. Two _groups_ of people, and the Hyuga wouldn't bother with external injuries.

_This is all my fault…_

He placed the back of his hand to her cheek. Her eyes were clossed, peaceful, but thankfully not at their final rest.

_**No! It's their fault! Those bastard Uchiha!**_

The doctor came into the room, alarmed by the display of speed the boy had shown. He saw the child at his patient's side, weeping with red eyes.

_What is this rage I feel inside me? It feels… __**good!**_

He turned to face the doctor, two tomoe spinning in his eyes. They came to rest in place as Jiro began to cry out.

"_Get out!"_

It was almost a hiss, pure rage and malice unlike any the poor medic had ever felt slithered out of it like a snake. He wasn't even a medical ninja, just a civillian doctor. He had no chance against such Murderous Intent, he was reduced to being frozen in place by the pure chill, little better than if he were to cower in a corner.

"_Get away from her! You know nothing of pain! Get away!"_

The hissing slowly began to solidify into more normal tones. Normal in a sense, yet completely alien to the concept of a pure, inocennt face. The boy's vissage had become marred by a look of unimaginable psychosis. The boy had gone insane, and his voice reflected this.

"It's all your fault! Everyone in this damnable village! You hate me, despise me, every last one of you, and my mother…"

The poor man couldn't stop staring at those horrible red eyes.

"She didn't deserve this!"

A large pulse of chakra came out of the boy's body, tearring everything apart, blowing it all away. The window in the corner of the room shattered, and the boy jumpped through it into the streets below.

A civillian was passing by when shards of glass stabbed strait into his arm. He felt a searing pain, and collapssed to the ground. His eyes were starring at the sandals of the one responsible for this.

"My… arm…"

"Suck it up! You're near a hospital aren't you?"

Jiro grabbed the man by the scruff of his collar, and tossed him strait through a solid oak door.

"Kyahhaaahaha! You'll be fine now!"

He spotted another civillian, and his rage continued on…

XXX

_What was that Murderous Intent?_

"Neiji, something has entered the village, and it seeks to kill. Do you feel it?" said Naruto, the urgency clear in his voice.

"Yes Lord Hokage."

"Get one of your old teammates and go sort out this mess, _now_!"

Neji nodded, and jumped out of sight.

He found Lee soon afterwords in a training field.

"All right! Today I will do one thousand push ups with all my weights on! If I can not, I will do two thousand sit ups!"

This would indeed have been an impressive feat. Lee wore so many weights these days, even durring cassual movements such as taking a stroll in the town, that most ninja would barely be able to move an inch in them. They wrapped around his entire body in large belts, untill you codldn't see the spandex underneath.

The amount he wore to train with was simply ridiculous.

"Lee, we have a mission."

"OK! So what is it?"

XXX

"Will none of you bastards come out to _play_!"

Jiro was on a rampage, he had sent out ten pheonixs already, each one seemingly aimed right at a human target, yet strangly veering off course into buildings. The whole of the medical district, so named due to the proximity to the hospital, was ablaze.

The flight path of the pheonixs was definantly not out of a sense of mercy. Jiro had already proved as much. He had not only killed around four villagers, but each in a realatively brutal manor. The first had been simple, yet elegant, tossed strait through a fence post, dieing as he was impalled before he even had a chance to scream. The second had been more messy, Jiro had painfully shoved his arm down the poor woman's throat, savoring the screams as if they might yet try to pay him back for years of pain, and then sent a Long Arm Jutsu through her digestive trak, with enough force to split her in half. The third had been impalled with shuriken in areas that were not meant to be stabbed even by the most dishonorable of enemies, and then dispatched by having Jiro shove a pheonix up his rectum. The fourth had been dragged to the top of a high building, thrown off it, and set on fire for good meassure. No one ever learned what had happened to the fith, all that was know was that there had definitly been a scream, and that was it. His body was never found.

"Fight me!"

Two Jonin in generic ninja masks saw the comotion, it was rather hard not to, and decided to defend their village.

"Cease and dissmise," pleaded one.

Jiro merely smilled a toothy grin.

"Are you millitary police? That makes you Uchiha!"

Jiro rushed over to them, stopping right in their face.

"No Sharingan, despite everything? Not Uchiha then, but you'll due for now."

They hesitated. Despite everything that this man had done, he was clearly a Shinobi of the leaf.

He thrust forward with incredible speed, ad twisted the head of one Shinobi a full seven-hundred and twenty dgrees, snapping it clean of in a fountain of red. Jiro caught it as it fell in midair, and used it as a tool to smash the second Jonin's face in.

"Ok, little halfling, that's enough."

Three ninja were surrounding him, on roofs that were not yet on fire. They had the cocky poise typical of Uchiha, and one was wielding Sharingan.

"There you are! Which one of you hurt Kimura, Kiyo!"

"And you just assume we're the ones who did that to her? Well," he said with eyebrow raissed in a cokey jester, "you'd be right."

"Bastards!"

"Meet us in wharehouse number four, ten minutes."

They dissapeared in a flash.

XXX

Masato starred into the sky where she had left.

"Well Dosato, I have to hand it to you, she was beutiful."

He wondered for a minute if he had ever loved someone. Had he felt the things Dosato had felt? Or was love different for everyone? Did he have someone special to him?

He thought to the red headed girl in his dream. She had been beautiful to him…

_Knock it off, she was a halucination. She bled yellow, didn't burn, and glowed for Gods' sake!_

Yet despite it all, he couldn't stop thinking about her. By this point, he had convinced himself none of it was ever real. But still, it had to at least represent _something_! Perhaps- she had known something- she was a mental image representing his drive for his memories? Try as hard as he might, he couldn't gather his thoughts, couldn't summon her, or even that Mindscape, back to him. It was gone, there was nothing. And so he sat there, peaceful, and undisterbed.

Untill he felt that Merderous Intent tearing through the air.

_What is this, it feels familiar…_

His eyes widened.

_Jiro?_

XXX

"Get back here, cowards!"

He began to scan the streets for another victem. If they wouldn't come out, then he would make them come out.

_No I won't!_

_**Yes I will, these people are just as guilty! Kill them, maim, obliterate!**_

_This isn't what I want… The Uchiha said that they would meet us in a wharehouse, ten minutes. I could go there-_

_**-and kill them!**_

His new goal thouroughly set into his mind, he walked towards the fourth warehouse, ignoring the screams of terror in his wake. He was in his element, he was the one causing the pain. They had given him so much for so long.

"And now I'll pay them back, full price!"

XXX

Ten minutes latter, he was at the warehouse.

_**Blood!**_

"Hey kid, I see you have a pair of brand new Sharingan. Bet you don't know how to use it!"

The voice belonged to the man who was obviously the leader. He jumped down from the ceiling, trying to drop kick Jiro, who dodged out of the way with ease.

Only to be kicked in the back by another Uchiha. He landed on the ground with a thud.

"Do you understand, _brat_. We are Uchiha! We are the true masters of the Sharingan!"

He walked over to the boy, and sent a swift kick to his face, which sent him spinning through the air. His eyes were shut in a grimace.

"Look at you! You can't even defend yourself against such a simple barrage! Pathetic."

Jiro got to his feet.

"You want more?"

Each began making hand signs.

"Fire style!" they each yelled out.

"Fireball Jutsu!"

"Pheonix Fire Jutsu!"

Fire burst from the Uchiha's mouth, and flew from Jiro's hands as the young Shinobi dodged the large ball of pure flaming death. Wether from pure luck or some sort of previously untapped skill, the fire birds carrened off course, but still managed to land in the chest of two of the surounding five Uchiha, who proceeded to desperatlytry to stop the flames with chakra. Two of the remaining three Uchiha rushed at Jiro while the leader began to release his Fire Jutsu. They were almost on top of him when Jiro bent backwards to avoid the punch of one, set his hand to the ground, and ussed it to flip over to the back side of his opponent. Jiro forced himself to fall with extra force, and he heard the enmy's spine give way with a sickening, _satisfying_ crunch.

Not entirly ignoring the screams of pain, they were such a symphony of fine art, Jiro still found enough time to draw a Kunai well before the next Uchiha was halfway towards the young Kimura. He hesitated, something was missing. Then he struck an idea. He bent over to the still pain ridden victem, and cut off his right hand, closing the severed fist around the bloody Kunai, and tied it with wire. Perfect.

He sent it careening towards the next Uchiha on the list, the one rushing him, who was now very close. But the Kunai met its mark, the throat, and The Uchiha slumpped over on the floor, dieing. Jiro merely reveled in the sense of irony, and quickly sent a foot down to snap the neck of the Uchiha he was still right on top of. The screams were starting to give him a headache.

The leader saw all of this and blanched.

"Now, who was it that was in troubled?" asked the sardonic Jiro.

The leader made hand signs.

"Fire Style: Flying Pheonix Jutsu!"

He sent fire birds strait at Jiro, whose eyes became incredibly enraged. One might full well expect the birds to fall off course, but they spread their wings and flew strait towards Jiro.

"Copy cat! No fair!" cried the highly shrill voice, as he jumped over the birds, and kicked them apart, ignoring the pain. "Well I can be a copy cat too! Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Jiro pumped in massive amounts of chakra into the blast, and the resulting fireball was huge. It easilly engulfed the whole warehouse in flame, ending the lives of the final three Uchiha, and burning all the bodies beyond recognition.

"I win! And yet, I feel nothing…"

He released a massive Murderous Intent into the air.

"Whose next?"

XXX

Neji and Lee were finding the chakra signature of this massive Murderous Intent very hard to track. The only real way to track a Murderous Intent was to look at the chakra left behind. To do this one had to be an incredible chakra senser, which neither was, or able to ue Byakugan, which Neji could.

The problem wasn't finding the chakra, it was that there was too much of it. The Murderous Intent was so massive that it left chakra all over the place at the scene of this crime. The medical district was entirely covered in a thin blue haze, to those with Byakugan. It made tracking down which trail of blue haze they needed to follow rather difficult.

"Neji, do you think, I mean, it felt so familliare, but it could not be. Do you think, it was my Youthful Student?"

That was a thought.

_If this is Jiro, than he must of found out avout Kiyo. That would explain the fact that the incident seems to have originatted right in the heart of the medical district, the hospital._

"It may have been Jiro. If it was, we can be sure of one thing, the target for this hatred was probabl either an Uchiha or a Hyuga."

"But which?"

"I don't know. The haze of Murderous intent extends well beyond the immediate vacinity. It was powerful. It can easilly follow multiple paths. There's one path leading to the Uchiha complex, one leading to the Hyuga Clan's private district, one leading towards the wharehouses, and one leading to Ichiraku Ramen. We can eliminate the ramen shop and the wharehouses, but should we go to the Uchiha complex, or the Hyuga district?"

They each said their opinion at the same time.

"The Hyuga district," said Neji.

"The Uchiha complex!" proclaimed the Youthful Green Beast of Konoha.

"What! Lee? That's entirely ridiculous. The Hyuga are the most likely choice."

"Why? The wounds on Kiyo were Kunai based. Hyuga would not bither with Kunai."

"Ok, Lee, how about a little wager?"

"OK! Rock, Paper Scissors!"

"You have to be kidding me."

They each held out a hand, and turned their backs to the other.

"No cheating with your Byakugan."

"I won't," Neji sighed.

They said at the same time, "Rock!"

"Paper!"

"Scissors!"

Neji turned with his hand in a flat palm. But Lee had anticipatted that Neji wuld simply fall into a basic Jyuken pose, and that he would think Lee would do the same with his own Strong Arm. So Lee had extended scissors.

"All Right! My Flames of Youth burn bright!"

"Ok, you won the silly game of rock, paper, scissors. Can we please just-"

Then another wave of one of the most massive Murderous Intents either of them had ever felt washed over them. It was cleare which direction it was coming from. The warehouses.

Neji almost blushed. It wasn't like him to miscalculate.

"But…" stuttered Lee. "The match, my youthful victory… I couldn't have been wrong. He is definitly fighting Uchiha!"

"Whatever Lee, let's just get moving before we lose him again."

XXX

"More… More…"

Jiro's mind was decending farther and farther into rage. He didn't see anyone to kill, but he needed the blood. He needed the feeling of revenge.

_No…_

_**Yes! I will kill!**_

Two figures emerged from the shadows of the front door. Jiro recognized them both. But one in particulare raissed mixed feelings in his heart.

"Lee-sensei…"

He felt images flowing through his mind, followed intollerable pain. Pain of injury, pain of recompence, pain of loss. He brought his hands to his face, and tore himself to the ground. He was on one knee, holding back the floodgates.

"I won't!

"**Kill him! Maim, destroy, crush!**

"Sensei, protects me… Taught me to protect myself…

"**He has no pity!**"

Lee merely starred.

"Jiro, my youthful student… What has happened to you?"

"**Killllllllllllllllll!"**

Jiro rushed at Lee, fully intending to kill him. But Lee disappeared, and reappeared behind the raging Kimura.

"Jiro…"

He sent an elbow strike to his pupil's shoulde, sending his to the ground. A quick kick to the face sent the young boy into a temporary oblivion.

As his eyes clossed, the red faded away, leaving only blood.

XXX

Lee's kick had done a lot of damage. Hard not to when your muscles opperate on such a level. So Jiro had almost died of brain injury, with excessive enough injury to warrant sending Sakura to heal him.

They kept him chained down in the bassment of the hospital. A temporary cage of Earth had been errected around him. They hoped he was secure.

"Sasuke, any ideas on what happened?" asked Sakura.

He sighed. "That depends entirly on what _did _happen."

Shikamaru, wo was standing behind Naruto, gave a sigh. Unlike what he himself was acustommed to, it wasn't out of exhasberation, but more like worry.

"He saw his mother, we know that much for sure because we have an eye wittness. He then emitted a huge blast of chakra, and jumped out the window. He proceeded to throw an injured civillian through a solid oak door into the hospital. He then brutally murdered five civillians, and two Jonin, before going to a seemingly random wharehouse, and attempting to burn it to the ground with a Fire Jutsu."

"I think," muttered Sasuke, "that he was fighting someone. He shows signs of minor bruising around varrious areas that are not consistent with the injuries lee reported giving him."

Sikamaru thought about that for a moment. "Most likely, the Jonin put up some sort of fight-"

Naruto spoke up. "The Jonin of this village would have destroyed Jiro. In all likely hood, he only beat them because he took them out while hesitated to kill him."

"Then he must have fought someone there."

"Did the doctor say anything else?' asked Sasuke, with a tone of voice that suggested he knew exactly what happened.

"Well, he said something about red eyes…"

_That's it!_He now knew for sure.

"He has a dissease that is so uncommon that it doesn't even have a name. I call it Sharingan Induced Misplaced Rage, or S.I.M.R. I discovered the cause of it durring my research. Part of the Sharingan's ability to allow users to memorize things they see comes from a certain chakra wave emitted by the eyes into the brain. In certain casses, this wave can cause insanity of a most distinct type.

It's worth noting that the physical deformitty in the brain that causes this phenomina is not unique to the Uchiha, but goes unnoticed in most casses because only Sharingan can trigger the properties. The use of Sharingan in those who suffer from S.I.M.R. causes them to unleash all their pent up anger and hatred on random targets, ussually bassed off proximity. The user hates everyone as equally as he hates the one he hate the most."

"Wait," said Naruto, "I don't get it. You're saying he has an mental illness?"

"It makes sense. His Sharingan allowed him to use a move bassed off a Jutsu he saw his opponent using. S.I.M.R sufferers _will_ target anyone, but if they see the one they truly hate, they become relentless. Most potential targets may be abandoned if they truly prove that they outclass them, or if they just gey away fast enough, but not if they are the truly intended target. So, Jiro must have been fighting Uchiha, who dominately use Fire Jutsu."

Sasuke sighed.

"The thing is, sufferers of S.I.M.R. don't create new hatered when they use Sharingan. The rage they feel never subsides, it often gets taken out on the wrong person, but it is never created. The rage Jiro feels inside, the malice he displayed, is his own. He must have been supressing it until now."

A silence fell upon the room Until Sakura asked, "But, Sasuke, is there a cure?"

"Strictly seaking no. S.I.M.R. will not go away, but it can be delt with."

Naruto looked annoyed, yet somehow relieved. Jiro wasn't completely psycopathic, just under special circumstances. And no one knew that it was Jiro, the doctor was the only eye wittness still left living. And even he didn't know who the boy _was_. And now Naruto's concionse could let the boy go.

"This couldn't of had worse timing. What with their performance on their last mission, and with a recommendation from Masato, Squad 15 was set to take the next Chuunin Exam. But with the boy in such a condition-"

"We can still teach him a way to control himself Naruto. I gained all this insight through study. It is a rare condition though, only one person in the world has it other than Jiro. He is the only one who knows how to control it."

"You mean?"

"I'm afraid so. Yuuma Uchiha is the only known person who can control S.I.M.R"

XXX

A/N: Another capter that's slightly shorter than warranted. Oh well.

S.I.M.R. is one of hose things in the story that just make it plain old AU. If something bout it needs explaining, just ask.

Next time on Heritage: Jiro begins his training, Hanabi begins to make her move, and who is Yuuma Uchiha?

"_Jiro… I'm sorry."_


	19. Against Yourself

**Against Yourself**

He woke up with a start. Cold sweat poured down his face in torrents, and his head felt as if it were on fire. He tried to move, and found himself chained to the cot he was laying on. He struggled, and found that he couldn't budge an inch.

Needless to say, he began to panic.

_Where am I? What's going on?_

"So you're awake."

A man walked out of the shadows. His eyes glowed red with three tomeo spinning in them. He was an Uchiha.

"Where am I?" asked Jiro, trying to keep his voice as calm as possible.

"I see the chains are holding nicely."

"Where am I!"

The man gave a chuckle. "Relax Jiro. I'm not going to hurt you, if I can help it."

"What are you talking about?"

"You are beneath the hospital Jiro, in a basement, two floors below ground. Do you know why we kept you here?"

"I… I don't remember anything. I saw my mother, she was hurt. Then… nothing!"

"So, you are not even aware of what you have done." He looked away, not wanting to have to be the one that broke the bad news to the kid.

"My name is Yuuma Uchiha, and I'm your new sensei."

_My new… sensei?_

"When you saw your mother, your rage exploded to a boiling point. It unleashed itself, by triggering the symptoms of a rare condition of a disease known as S.I.M.R. After that, you were out for three strait days."

"S.I.M.R.?"

Suddenly, flashes of memory flowed through his head. Some were grotesque, others were more so. But none of them were pleasant. Death, destruction, and blood were all he found there. And _he _was the cause of it.

"No, I didn't do any of that," he said, suppressing a shudder. "I couldn't of; I don't even have the kind of strength…"

"A medical analysis showed you had sustained abnormal damage to your muscular tissue during the rampage. It is possible you were going in and out of the one gate released state of the human body during your massacre."

"No, I would have felt more-"

"Pain is irrelevant to one in an S.I.M.R. rampage."

Jiro shuddered. Pain was… irrelevant? The basic driving forces of human nature included the desire to avoid pain. To become something to which it didn't matter…

_No, I'm not that thing!_

"Well, anyway, I see you definitely aren't in a rage anymore. So you're free to go."

He made hand seals, and the stone bars around the prison receded. He produced a key, and with it was easy to unlock the chains. Jiro immediately jumped out of the cot, and began to leave. He was calming down now that he was no longer tied up, but he still wanted out of there.

"Don't leave yet, Jiro."

_What des he want with me? He already has everything he needs._

"I'm your new sensei. And class is about to begin."

"What… do you mean?"

"I can help you control your disease. But to do so, I need your consent."

_**Why is he asking so politely? He's a damn Uchiha! He deserves to die, be crushed, killed!**_

He falls to the ground, holding his hands to his head.

"No… go away! I'm not a murderer!"

"Jiro!"

Yuuma ran strait at Jiro before the decent to madness could be entirely completed. He grabbed Jiro's face with his hand, and focused chakra.

"Sleep!"

Jiro fell unconscious, and the madness receded.

"It is as I feared. Now that his madness has awoken, he is triggering his Sharingan more and more easily. And with it, comes the rage."

"Jiro, I'm sorry. I wish I had never done this to you."

XXX

Hitomi had gotten out of the hospital days ago, but was only now getting to her studies. She had a new ability to learn and needed to learn it fast. Before their next mission, before they had to fight again.

_Before I have to watch as those around me begin to die._

She checked out multiple books. She would need them all. The Sharingan allowed her to copy a Jutsu, but to use this one; she would have to reconstruct it anew. She couldn't live with herself if she used it as it was. It was too dangerous to the victim.

_There must be a way._

She went back home to her house in the Uchiha complex. It was a desolate place, empty now, except for her.

_In some twisted way, I miss my father._

That's when it hit her. She had forgotten one of the books she had wanted to check out. And it was essential to her education on this new subject matter!

She flung her door open, and sprinted out of her apartment. Or tried to at least. Right outside the apartment door, she ran strait into her sensei.

Masato, just the man she had wanted to see.

"Sorry Masato-sensei!" she said. She got back to her feet as fast as she could, and bowed.

"Don't call me sensei… I never taught you anything. And you all almost died on your last mission. I'm… a failure as a sensei…"

"Then why don't you teach me something now?"

"Actually," he said, rubbing his head sheepishly, "that's why I'm here. Each of you is being offered a private sensei from any Jonin n Konoha, and I'm requesting that you choose me."

"Choose…" She is temporarily flabbergasted. Genin almost never got there own private sensei. And she was being offered Masato, all to herself!

"Of course, Masato-sensei! I have just the thing too! You're a master of the elements, and I need to learn an elemental Jutsu."

"Oh, which one?"

"Can I explain on the way to training? We're burning daylight after all."

"Of course."

As they leapt off of the building into the village, Masato pointed them in the perfect direction for a training ground that could be used for Earth Jutsu.

"By the way, Masato-sensei. Why are we being offered private senseis?"

"Well, you've all been accepted into the Chunin Exams."

XXX

"We've what?" asked Hachiro with a quick burst of babble.

"As I've said, you've all been accepted into the Chunin Exam, and because of that, you've been given a private sensei."

"But, why?"

Yuuma had explained most of it to Jiro once he woke up. They hadn't even left the hospital yet. But there was still some of it he didn't understand.

"You defeated a Jonin, which is very uncommon among Genin. So we decided to let you into the Chunin Exam. Of course, we thought we should help you all be prepared. So we set you up with an optional private sensei. But in your case, I'm mandatory."

Jiro didn't like the sound of that.

"What do you mean?"

"Your disease, you've already seen what it can do. I can teach you to control it."

Jiro was in part relieved, and yet there was a second part, one that didn't think it was so simple.

"And that entails."

Yuuma shifted uncomfortably. "S.I.M.R. usually forces rage to direct outward. But with a special Genjutsu I developed, I can direct your rage inward upon your own psyche. It will be given form and, thanks again to my special Genjutsu, you will fight it. If you win, the effects will become controllable. It won't go away, and the symptoms will be just as bad if you lose control. But you will be able to control it."

Jiro eyed the man suspiciously. "And what happens if I lose?"

"Your rage will shatter your mind, and the effects of S.I.M.R. will become permanent. Then, I will have no choice but to kill you."

"No! I'm not going to do that!" he yelled, and began to head towards the door.

Yuuma shrugged. "It's your choice, but I warn you, you're getting worse. It took you the injuries of your mother to trigger it, but already you're falling into the state during uncomfortable conversations. If you continue like this, you will lose yourself to it completely."

Jiro stopped. He didn't want to admit it, but Yuuma might be right. He turned to the Uchiha in a fast spin, staring him strait in the eye.

"And how would you know all of this mister _Uchiha_?"

"Because I have S.I.M.R. too."

Jiro stopped. This man also had S.I.M.R.?

"I learned to control it. But I had more time than you do to come up with this Jutsu. Your disease is progressing even quicker than usual."

"What do I have to do?" he asked with a sigh.

"Nothing," said Yuuma, while making hand signs. "All it requires is that you are willing to go through with it. Otherwise, you won't enter your mind properly. And your rage will destroy you without you putting up a fight."

Jiro gulped. "I except."

"Good," was all Yuuma said before placing his hand to Jiro's face.

XXX

Jiro awoke in a strange place, one he did not recognize. It was a large forest, but with no leaves. A barren wasteland of a place, the sun shone down like a dessert. He realized that despite the certainty of it being well over one hundred degrees, he was not sweating.

_Is this some sort of mindscape?_

"_Before we begin, Jiro," _said a voice without a body, which Jiro recognized as Yuuma, _"I have a few warnings. Your other self will manifest as a replica of you. It will have all your Jutsu, strength, speed, stamina, and it will also have the added benefit of Sharingan. The only thing you have he does not is Byakugan, because he can not trigger two limits at once. But he will not fight the same way you do. Pain, fatigue, mercy, he abandons these things to create a pure ruthless fighting style. Are you prepared to face something like that?"_

Jiro wondered for a minute. Was he truly as ready as he thought himself to be?

"I am ready. Begin the Jutsu."

XXX

"I see," said Masato. "That would be an excellent application for Earth Jutsu. But the second requirement for that technique, I can not teach it to you."

"I know sensei."

Hitomi had explained her concept for the Jutsu she was trying to develop, including its origin and theory. But she had not expected Masato to know how the second half worked. The second half of the Jutsu was for Genjutsu, an area her sensei had neglected.

"Before we start working with Earth, we must improve your chakra control. At the same time, this technique will also be a valuable tool out in the field."

The training ground was made p of a stone field. In it, random crevices, craters and pillars raised out of it, likely the byproducts of practicing Earth Jutsu. It was to the largest of these pillars that Masato pointed.

"What we are about to practice is known as the Tree Climbing exercise. But, we will use this pillar instead. Apply chakra to your feet to stick to the surface of the pillar. Too much, and you will be pushed off, too little, and you will fall."

She nodded to show she understood. She turned to the stone, and stared up to the top. It was very tall, twice the size of an average Konoha forest tree.

She gritted her teeth, and focused chakra. She bolted up the surface as if it was no different than the ground beneath her feet.

She made it about half way, which would have been almost all the way on an average tree. It was impressive for a first try.

Masato mussed in his head.

_Of course her chakra control would be excellent. Her talent lies in Genjutsu, a field almost exclusively requiring chakra control._

She tried again, and only improved by inches.

_Of course, she would improve rather slowly! That's just my luck!_

That was how she spent her afternoon, climbing a pillar without her hands, and failing to move forward fast enough for her liking.

XXX

A fire erupted in the forest that was Jiro's mind. It was all consuming, the heat coming off it in a constant barrage of consuming hunger.

From the fire rose a figure. Like a demon it smiled, wearing Jiro's face. But it was clear to anyone who could see that this was not Jiro. It wore a smile of anticipation for the kill. It wanted blood, thirsted for it, craved it, and knew it would soon get it.

"**A human? Is that what I am? Something so weak it can't even protect the ones it holds dear?"**

Jiro starred into the abyss of fiery pain, and for the first time, understood what this thing truly meant.

"You're me?"

"**I'm the power you wish to hold! Hold me now, the power of the Sharingan! Just make sure you don't get burned!"**

He charged at Jiro with a speed Jiro couldn't track with his unaided eye. The evil Jiro sent a flat palm strike to his chin that sent Jiro flying backwards. As his back grew parallel to the ground, evil Jiro appeared under it, and sent a kick to his spine. The power of the kick sent Jiro strait into the air.

Jiro made hand signs as devil-Jiro appeared in the air right next to him. The red Sharingan eyes looked at him with no uncertain malice.

Devil-Jiro sent a drop Kick to Jiro's stomach that sent him crashing to the ground with such force that stone turned to dust in the air around him. As the dust cleared, a splintered log was all that was found in the crater.

"**You're kidding! A replacement! Don't make me laugh!"**

Devil-Jiro made hand signs, and sent a large Fireball into the forest, forcing Jiro to get out of the way.

_He knew where I was! The Sharingan can let him track me even as I'm doing a Substitution Jutsu. Plus, he's moving much faster than I should be able to- Of course!_

Jiro stopped, and rushed strait at his devil self.

"**What? Giving up already?"**

Jiro stopped right in front of the incarnation of his rage.

"First Gate, open!"

_This is in my mind, so opening the gate here won't harm my body._

They were now at exactly the same level of strength. Jiro sent a punch to Devil's side, which was blocked. The force of the blow was absorbed, and shoved aside, so that the arms would not be in the way while Devil sent a strike to Jiro's side. Jiro shoved the blow to the side with his foot, using the leverage to the arm down, trying to break it. But rather than resisting, Devil leaned forward, got his arm to the ground before Jiro's leg met it there, and used the arm as a fulcrum to flip above the head of an unsuspected Jiro. On the way through the flip, Devil sent his free hand in a strike to Jiro's face.

Jiro reached for a kunai to deflect the arm, and cut it at the same time, only to find there was none on his belt. He took the full force of the strike to his face, and was sent flying strait into a tree.

His body hit it with a bone shattering force, splitting the trunk in two. He lay there, dazed, and could do nothing to deflect the next move of his opponent. A fireball sent its way to Jiro's head, and he could feel the burns spreading across his flesh.

"AHH!"

Devil Jiro walked up to him, and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"**Get up! I'm not through with you yet!"**

He threw Jiro into the forest, sending his battered body through six more trees before it finally slowed down enough to be slammed upon the trunk of one last monolithic charred oak.

Devil sent three more large fireballs into the forest after the body, consuming what was left of the already burned surroundings.

The blasts hit the tree, but Jiro was no where to be found.

"Looking for me?"

Jiro appeared behind his devil self, with a fully active Byakugan. He sent three strikes to the body of hi enemy, one punch that was meant to twist around to hit the jugular, another punch meant to take out the vertebrae around the neck, and a kick to the Kidneys. Because he was behind the target, the Sharingan had no clear sight between the two, and was unable to help Devil dodge the strikes. Devil intercepted both strikes to his neck, by catching them with his hands, but never saw the kick coming, and was beaten back by the force of it into another section of forest.

"Just give up!" yelled Jiro.

"**There is no blood; I have not found the blood!"**

"Don't you get it? This is nothing more than an extension of the entire Hyuga Uchiha conflict into my mind! Why must even the two halves of my own heritage fight in my own body?"

"**I am not your Uchiha heritage!"**

Devil through himself at Jiro, and sent his fingers out as if they were claws, aimed strait for Jiro's eyes. But Jiro shifted his head to one side, and the arm missed. He caught it, and used it to swing Devil over his back. But his dark half used the momentum to land on his feet, and increase the power of his own toss. Jiro flew strait into a tree, but twisted his body to land into it on his feet.

He bounced of the tree as it began to splinter from the contact, and landed right in Devil's chest like a bullet. But Devil Jiro smiled, and disappeared into smoke, leaving behind a log.

Jiro didn't even turn to intercept the strike, the Byakugan gave him such an edge in peripheral vision that he sent a kick up behind his back to intercept the strike. Devil-Jiro swerved out of the strikes way, into a position to send a sweep to Jiro's one grounded leg, which Jiro jumped over, and responded to with an ax kick from the airborne leg strait into devil-Jiro's face.

It slammed into the ground, and soon seemed as if it would not get back up. But then, slightly muffled by the ground that he still hadn't removed his face from, it sounded out.

"**Your disease is said to be rare. But he has it too. How much do you want to bet that it's genetic?"**

Jiro's eyes widened, could it be?

"**Yes, I know you are angry. Feel the wrath, let it burn!"**

Devil sent a Fireball to Jiro's face, but Jiro sent out his arm to intercept it.

"Wind Style: Long Arm Jutsu!"

The gust of wind went strait through the fire, and slammed devil-Jiro in the face. He was thrown back, and Jiro took advantage by kicking him in the side. Blood began to trickle slightly down the injured devil's forehead. He got shaking up to his feet again.

"**Will… not… lose!"**

XXX

Yuuma stood in front of the young Shinobi, and starred strait into his Sharingan. It was changing.

"Impossible! He's had it for all of three days… It can't be advancing already!"

But sure enough it was. The body must have somehow been recognizing a need for more power.

_No. it couldn't be? Is his dark side drawing on even more power?_

XXX

Jiro starred in horror as the devil got back to his feet. The eyes began to show an increase in chakra activity, as a third tomeo fell into place.

"**I can't lose to one who would remain weak!"**

The thing before him charged, running at speeds that Jiro could just barely match.

_What is this?_

The thing blocked every strike sent at it, moving before the good Jiro even began to move his arms. There was some trick, there had to be.

"**What's the matter is the Byakugan just falling short?"**

Jiro ran back, trying to distance himself from his adversary. He could feel the eyes tracking him, never leaving him outside their sight.

The evil him sent three more Fireballs at Jiro, which the young Shinobi barely dodged. The last one came so close that even the residual heat coming off the side of it was enough to singe Jiro's cloths.

Jiro jumped away again and again as more and more Fireballs came flying towards him. The amount of chakra this thing was using was unreal.

_Unreal…_

The whole world was unreal at that moment. The world he was in was not real, but a Genjutsu. He mussed to himself that none of it was real. Not even that tree that was just hit by a Fireball, and beginning to burn down…

_Why _are_ all the tress ashen?_

Jiro began to realize something; these trees represented his own life. The life he had spent in the leaf village. And all of it was being burned by his own hatred…

He stopped, and starred down Devil-Jiro in the face. It sent more and more Fireballs at him as it ran closer, and closer. But Jiro just deflected them all away with the power of his Long Arm Jutsu.

"I know now, the difference between you and me."

It stopped in front of him, and for the first time, it seemed to be relenting.

"**What?"**

Jiro walked towards it, and where his foot fell, trees became less black, but more brown. The grass beneath his feet grew green, and leaves grew from the trees.

"You are a being who can not forgive, who is doomed to hate, but never understand."

As Jiro walked towards it, it fell away from him, running in fear. But Jiro just kept walking at tat same leisurely pace, with the forest f his mind growing more serene with each step it took. Somehow, his casual strides seemed as if they were going to outrun his hatred.

"My hatred empowers you, feeds you, so long as I let it control me. No matter what I've always said, or who I've said it too, I have always had this part of me that wanted to kill those bastards that treated me this way."

He looked around, and sighed at how much of his mind was only now being torn away from being burned.

"Perhaps, those desires were not as small as I had always thought…"

The malevolent part of his thoughts found itself trapped in front of the largest tree in the whole field, with Jiro only minutes behind.

"But now I know better. I no longer need this hatred that is inside my mind."

"**You will never be pure!"**

Jiro paused at it. But his mind was almost free of the burns, save for this one tree.

"I will never be pure. This much is true. The hate will always be there, but I will understand it. I understand the reason _why_ they treat me this way. I understand…"

He grabbed Devil-Jiro by the collar, and held their faces close to each other.

"You are one who will never understand."

He tossed the being strait into a tree branch, which stabbed itself strait through his chest.

"And that is why there is no place for someone like you inside my mind."

Devil-Jiro looked down at his chest, almost completely cut in half by the large tree branch. He smiled.

"**I will not leave. You have yet to understand as well. There is one tree in this forest that is still ashen."**

As the blood dripped down the side of the tree, the trunk beneath was revealed in full. It was not the beautiful vibrancy of the forest, but the black of the burned and the damned.

"**There is one who you have yet to understand. The driving force behind all my power. The one person you truly hate with all your heart."**

As Devil-Jiro faded away, his smile became a maniacal grin.

"**I will not go away so long as you continue to hate this man!"**

Jiro stood in front of the giant tree, the greatest of all the trees in this place of hollow recollection. He sighed.

"So this tree is you, father."

XXX

Jiro opened his eyes, to find himself back in the world of reality. He was staring up at the man who was now his sensei. His wall was slumped against the wall of the basement.

"Have you done it?"

Jiro got up, and opened his eyes in answer. They were blood red, with three tomeo in each.

"I feel no different than I did before. With my Sharingan active, my rage is still suppressed."

Yuuma smiled.

"Good. Your tutelage officially begins now! From now on, you will serve under three sensei!"

Jiro got up, deactivating his Sharingan.

"Three…"

"I will be continuing training you in the Uchiha arts. You will also be receiving official instruction under Lee as well, who will be accompanying us during our sessions, and to make sure I don't hurt you."

When Jiro looked up at him in surprise Yuuma merely shrugged.

"What? It's a legitimate concern. I am an Uchiha after all. But your third sensei, refused to work with you as long as you were around me. You will be working with him separately."

"Who?"

Yuuma smiled.

"Oh, you're going to like this one. From now on, you will be referring to Anbu Neji, the most powerful Jyuken user of our generation, as Neji-sensei."

Jiro could not find words to express the feelings he felt at that moment. This was it. After all these years, all avenues were about to be opened to him. He was about to learn Uchiha techniques, the greatest signal collection of the most powerful Jutsu in the world. And at the same time, he was about to learn Hyuga Jyuken from the greatest user of the current generation. To top it all off, his powers with Strong Arm were likely to increase to another level. Perhaps even the second gate….

"Don't forget, all of this is in preparation for the Chunin exams."

Jiro had a grin plastered to his face. Things were looking up. His power was soon to increase, and those he loved would never be harmed again because of it. This new feeling of dread he had been feeling upon the discovery of his second side was gone. He was even about to move on to the next level of Ninja rank. He had no doubts that he would pass the exams with flying colors. After all, even as he was, he had defeated a _God_. What would be able to challenge him once he learned these new powers?

He smiled to the starry sky.

_What could possibly go wrong from here?_

XXX

After several more visits from Sakura, Hayato was ready to leave the very next day. He starred out to the moon, knowing that after only one more night of sleep, he could get out of that damn hospital, and even begin intense training.

As he starred out the window, the one thing that could kill his mood jumped in from the open panes of glass. It was a tall, slender figure of a certain Hyuga clan leader.

"Lady Hanabi!"

"I want a report," she smiled. "I notice Jiro is still alive. Hard not to after all the destruction he caused three days ago. Tell me, why is he not dead?"

Hayato shivered, this was not good. But he had to tell her. Lying to the lady of the clan was not an option.

"I… I had him dead to rights! As per orders, I engaged him in such a way as to look least suspicious, and in this manner, nearly eliminated him! But… I couldn't do it."

He looked down at the feet of his bed. His shame at that moment knew no bounds.

She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I see. You have grown too attached to the situation. Help is in order."

She cleared her throat.

"Listen to me Hayato, for I am the eye of the falcon."

His eyes widened for a minute, than his whole body relaxed, and his eyelids drooped. If he had pupils, they would have dilated.

"I am the bird in the cage," was his response.

XXX

A/N: I'm sorry this was a whole day latter than the update schedule. I've been busy recovering data on this project that the "incident" caused me to lose. So I haven't been slacking off, I swear.

Last chance to send in characters for the exams. Next chapter is the last in this arc, and once I submit the first chapter of the Chunin Exam arc, I won't be able to except any more. I need to plan these fights ahead after all.

Next time on Heritage: A brief overview of the training. Hitomi begins Earth Manipulation, and Jiro struggles to fight off a dangerous foe in a sparing match. Hayato has some training of his own to do, a match of his own, against his senpai. _"Against an opponent such as you… I shall not need to draw a signal sword."_


	20. Interlude: Hayato's Real World

A/N: Hello everyone, welcome back to the story. Just a few quick announcements. This chapter, the first of the interludes, has been published earlier than the rest will be, in order to deliver this message to my (hopefully), still loyal fans. First off, I wish to stress that this is _not_ meant to indicate that the story is back to being published yet. However, new chapters _are_ being written. Given a month, I will begin publishing the new chapters at a semi-regular interval again. Semi-regular meaning that they will be sent to my new betas regularly, and when they get published online is up to them, and how fast they edit them. Of course, I have confidence in their speed and ability.

Second, this is the first of the interludes. These are completely relevant to the story itself, and _are_ happening in the story. The only difference is that they are not centered on Jiro's point of view dominantly or even at all, in most cases. They are meant, mostly, to give an introduction to some of the OCs that will be participating in the Chunin Exams, although this one is an exception, as it centers on Hayato.

Third, upon the request of a reviewer, I will be creating a list of all Kekkai Genkai and Jutsu that I have created at the end of each chapter in which one is shown, in order to help clear up confusion on these techniques. I will soon release a list of all the current Jutsu that I have introduced as well. Also, in order to conform to the standard that most stories on this sight follow, and because I feel Japanese often sounds cooler than English, I will now be using Japanese names for Jutsu I create, and Canon Jutsu. I will also be using suffixes such as –san, -kun, -chan, and –sama, more frequently than before.

Fourth, not only will this story continue, but I will now confirm that there will be a sequel. Details will not be made available until we are closer to its publication, however. Still, it _will_ exist.

Fifth, I'm back! Enjoy.

**Interlude: Hayato's Real World**

Shizune, an important medical ninja of the Konoha hospital, second only to Sakura herself, was making her rounds. In her hands was a group of files on each of her current long term patients. This, unfortunately, included the soon to be released Hyuuga Hayato.

Just thinking of the brat made Shizune want to pull her hair out. Loud mouthed, but in a thoroughly unpleasant way, Hayato was the kind of person that could often make even the most mild mannered girl want to kill him. He was constantly trying to do _something_, whether it was ripping off his bandages, or trying to sneak out of his room. He even had the audacity to have once called his nurse a 'dumb cunt.'

People like Hayato pretty much pissed everyone off and, if Shizune hadn't known any better, she would have sworn Sakura passed the patient into her care because _she_ didn't want to have to deal with him. But of course, that couldn't be it. She knew Sakura better than that. No, it was certainly because Hayato had needed advanced medical techniques to be applied to him practically every second since he had been first admitted and put into Shizune's care. It was a sign of trust.

Still, she was glad that he was leaving. This would be the last night she was to check on the boy.

As she walked by his room, she heard the voice of one of the only people who pissed her off more than Hayato coming from it. Hyuuga Hanabi, the Hyuuga clan head. But these weren't visiting hours, and the very thought of that woman was enough to make Shizune think about throwing her out by force, with a proclamation of visiting hours being over.

But the conversation was very suspicious… perhaps it was better if she listened in for a bit. So she snuck up, and put her ear to the door to listen.

"I…I had him dead to rights! As per orders, I engaged him in such a way as to look least suspicious and, in this manner, nearly eliminated him! But…I couldn't do it."

_That _was bad news! So, the Hyuuga clan head was ordering a Genin to perform some sort of assassination? Somehow, Shizune was unsurprised.

"I see. You have grown too attached to the situation. Help is in order."

The clan head cleared her throat.

"Listen to me Hayato, for I am the eye of the falcon."

The conversation was only getting stranger as Shizune noted that Hayato's voice was suddenly relaxing. He sounded less stressed than before, as if all his tension had simply left his body.

"I am the bird in the cage," was his response.

_A code? _She thought. _But what does it mean…?_

She needed to see what was going on, so she turned to look through the crack, abandoning the listening vantage point in favor of a visual one. But years in a hospital rather than the field had softened her stealth instinct, and she had forgotten the files in her hand. They touched the door as she turned to look through it, nudging it ever so slightly.

It was enough, and fatal. Hanabi instantly turned her head, and activated her Byakugan beneath a suspicious gaze.

"Ah! If it isn't one of the Slug's disciples! I see you haven't stealth skills that match your medical finesse. Open the door that I might look at you _without_ the Byakugan."

Cursing under her breath, Shizune knew she was caught. She opened the door. There was no escaping the Byakugan now.

Hanabi smiled a crooked falsehood of a grin to hide her obvious dissatisfaction, before saying, "I didn't think the personnel stayed in so late."

"I have a lot of patients. Hayato is the last on my list. A half hour more and you would just have missed me."

"Yes…how much did you hear?"

"Everything."

"Then you must understand," she sighed. "Those are very incriminating words. I can't let you report them to the Hokage, the ANBU, or anyone else."

Shizune's eyes narrowed as she reached for some senbon. "Are you threatening to kill me then, _Lady_ Hanabi-sama?"

"No. At least, not by myself. No need to get my own hands dirty. Hayato, if you'll please."

Shizune jumped back as the boy slowly got out of bed. For a second she wondered how the woman could possibly be serious. A Genin, kill an advanced Jonin? Impossible… and yet, as she looked into the eyes of the boy, she found them blank. He was different than before, the rude exterior melting away to reveal the Shinobi beneath. She was sure at that moment that this was serious, that boy had the capacity to slaughter her.

It didn't help her morale when he tossed a couple of shuriken through her shoulder so fast that it didn't begin to bleed until a few seconds later.

She threw her senbon at the boy, and he flicked them aside like they were nothing but air. His Byakugan activated, and Hayato descended upon Shizune.

This would be the final night she had to check on the boy, or anyone else, ever again.

Uzumaki Naruto stared at the ANBU report with unhidden sorrow.

"Neji, how is this possible?"

Neji had been on the scene to investigate the murder of Shizune, and file the report on the gruesome murder. And now he was with the village genius, Nara Shikamaru, in Naruto's office, to explain the murder, and to help clear up some inconsistencies. Neji was there because he was in the ANBU, which had joint jurisdiction over cases of ninja being killed in Konoha with the Uchiha clan's Military Police, and because this murder may pertain to his current mission. Shikamaru was there representing the Military Police. Shikamaru, though lazy, had a brilliant brain, which adapted well to logical deduction, and was thus an incredible detective, when he could be bothered to be. In fact, his investigative ability was so great, that he was the only man to ever become a member of the Military Police, without being an Uchiha, despite being only a Special Jounin.

Of course, he had only ever accepted the offer because he knew it would get him out of the line of fire that most Shinobi faced. And, of course, a person trying to kill him was much more troublesome than investigative work. He knew when to take the lesser of two evils.

Neji cleared his throat to begin. "We found the body of Shizune just outside a room of the Konoha Hospital just this morning. It is important to note that this was the room that patient Hyuuga Hayato was staying in, for later. She was mutilated, as you can see in the photos, with a kunai."

Naruto could see that. Whoever had done this kind of damage was obviously no expert. There were too many superficial wounds to be concerned about, the poor medic must have gone though incredible pain at the hands of minor, but vicious injury, before she was finally killed by a slit across her throat.

"The current suspect is a Kirigakure missing-nin, Takemoto Arata. But this is where the inconsistencies begin."

Shikamaru sighed, since there was no point in telling Naruto how troublesome this was, and began his share of the report.

"The Kiri-nin is a Genin in rank and apparently in ability. This is, of course, very suspicious, since the story is that he was able to take out one of our strongest Jounin in a frontal assault, no easy feat for even foreign Jounin to accomplish. Then, after that, the apparent situation would indicate that it was one Hyuuga Hayato that took down Arata after he was finished murdering Shizune, which is impossible for obvious reasons."

"I get that so far," nodded Naruto. "But if Arata didn't do it, who did?"

Neji interjected again at this point.

"It had to be a Hyuuga."

"What?!"

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Note the injuries along the wrists, in the legs, and across the chest, all of which could be a major hindrance to combat ability. The fact of the matter is that if Shizune were to receive these injuries, she would know the importance of fixing them, and with her advanced capacity for medical techniques, she would have managed some amount of healing, at least enough to stop the bleeding. While the autopsy has not come back yet, and so we can not know for sure that she didn't try _something_, the fact that these wounds were bleeding openly when we found her indicates that she did not try to stop them from doing so."

"Meaning she was unable to," concluded Neji. "The Jyuuken style of fighting would easily allow someone to stop another ninja from using chakra and, therefore, medical techniques. However, when I investigated with Byakugan, I found that the Tenketsu were not blocked."

"So then it couldn't be a Hyuuga," said the relieved Naruto. If it was a Hyuuga, a delicate political conflict in the village was getting worse…

"No, all logic indicates that it _must_ have been a Hyuuga. What this really means is that the culprit is smart, and covered up their tracks afterwards, knowing that the Tenketsu would remain blocked long enough for the investigation to find it."

"There's more," continued Neji. "Whoever did this was able to do massive internal injury, severing the veins in a way that I have never seen before, in areas where the skin was not broken. Many of these areas are in the outwardly undamaged head, causing massive hemorrhaging, which may have been what really killed Shizune."

"From this I conclude that the external injuries were made _after_ the victim died."

Naruto had to sit down after that.

"So what you two are saying is-?"

"That a Hyuuga, with enough resources at his or her disposal to frame a missing-nin, murdered Shizune," confirmed Neji. "And since we have the 'suspect' in custody currently, that Hyuuga was also able to hold a missing-nin custody for an indefinite period of time, either on the off chance that it would be necessary to frame someone, or because it was premeditated. I know of only one person who is a Hyuuga, has such resources, and might have a motive. Lady Hanabi."

Naruto sat there in stunned silence.

"…What do we do?"

"Nothing," concluded Shikamaru.

"What!"

"The fact is we have no physical evidence. Hanabi is smart enough to cover her tracks. The only evidence we have that it might be a Hyuuga is speculation. And we can't frame a Hyuuga based on the way Shizune died, because this form of fighting, the causing of internal bleeding strategically, has never been used by the Hyuuga before. We have nothing to pin the murder on Hanabi."

"…So we must do nothing?"

Neji shook his head, "On the contrary, this gives me a new area to look into my current investigation. The murder took place by Hayato's room, which means Hanabi has something she needs to hide about Hayato."

Yes, Hanabi did have something to hide. And up until now, she had hidden it even from Hayato himself. But that time was ending as they stood on the roof of his house, with the wind at their backs.

"…I don't understand… what's going on? Why does my head…?"

Hayato held a hand to his head, wincing in pain as it happened again. Memories he did not remember having floated to the surface of his mind. These things never happened, and yet they felt like they were his. And they _were_ his, but didn't he have other memories before? He tried to call them to the surface, only to feel that they had almost completely faded already. Those that he did find felt fake, unwanted, like they didn't belong, and the memories he now felt entering his head were infinitely more real.

"Disoriented, I see," smiled Hanabi pleasantly. "It is to be expected. The new memories entering your head are your true memories. The ones you seem to be desperately trying to recall are fake."

"Fake? But, Hanabi-sama…no, that can't be right. I mean, they were so…I had a life!"

"That too, was fake. You never had a life outside of Weapon."

"Weapon?"

Hayato's ears tingled at the sound of the word. It was so familiar, it meant something, but what it was, that escaped him. And yet it struggled just beneath the torrent of his recollection.

"Let me see if I can stimulate a few memories. During your fight with Jiro in the academy test, were you not easily defeated by the boy."

"…Yes," admitted Hayato reluctantly.

"But then you had a rematch on your mission, as I ordered?"

"Yes."

"In which you decimated him with your superior speed?"

"A thousand times yes!"

"How did you get so fast, so quickly?"

Hayato was about to protest that he had worked hard wearing more weight than Jiro could ever dream to hold, but then stopped, clutching his head in pain as the waves of memory continued to wash away the old ones. He had _always_ worn weights… but then how was it that he had only remembered to remove them during _that_ fight?

"Tell me, on your last mission, you were incredibly injured, beyond human endurance. And yet, you destroyed your opponent. How was that possible? Some sort of Jutsu?" Hanabi asked, already knowing the answer.

"…Yes. I managed to recall something you taught me in my youth, the Katsu Kaihou (Pain Release)."

"And you had never remembered the learning of such a dangerous technique before?"

Hayato paused at this. He _had_ never known that move before.

"…What are you trying to say…?"

"The sudden remembrance of that technique was part of a contingency plan. If your life was in danger, really in danger, you would begin to regain some of your true memories. And with your memories, hopefully you would be able to save yourself. We'd hate to lose one of our most valuable Weapons."

"…No…"

"The truth is, that all of those skills, and more, were hidden from you as a part of project Weapon."

Hayato collapsed to the ground, as the final surge of memory began to take hold.

"…The Weapon project, Hayato-kun, do you remember it?"

"…I'm not…"

A searing pain crawled up his skull, as it began to feel as if it were cracking open. Then, a screech of pain.

"Arrrrgh!"

Then no more, as Hayato collapsed with but four words.

"I am…a Weapon."

It had been three days since his memories had reawakened, and since that time, no one had seen Hayato. Hanabi had asked to be Hayato's private trainer in the time leading up to the Chuunin exams, and in a clever political maneuver, had forced the Hokage to allow it. There had simply been no way to avoid granting her that favor.

And, in the time leading up to the Chuunin exams, Hayato would be trained by Weapon.

It was the third day, and the memories were settling into place.

_I had volunteered, but the idea of becoming what I was again…I don't think I could bear it. I had abandoned Hanabi-sama, in favor of friendship with that Halfling! Never again…_

Then there was a knock on Hayato's door.

He answered it.

"L-Lady Hanabi-sama!"

"Yes, good to see you too, Hayato-kun. You are adjusting well I see."

"I remember everything, Hanabi-sama."

"But do you remember how to fight? That is to be seen."

Hayato knew better than to question it. He had proven his ability only a night previous, when he had killed Shizune. But he knew that if his leader questioned his skills still, it was her word that was law, not his.

He bowed, the universal sign for the Weapons which meant that they were agreeing with Hanabi, and followed her out into the training facility.

It was exactly as he remembered it. Hidden underground, it had no windows, and no sunlight, but was lit by torches. Hanabi had once explained to Hayato when he was younger that electrical light could be more easily traced, and so they relied on fire to keep them out of the dark. Still, Hayato had always felt that the shadows cast about the smooth stone walls by the inconsistent flames were rather eerie.

In the center was the only part of the room, save for the torches, that was made of wood rather than stone. A raised platform, decorated with birds of various types, drawn in the traditional Hyuuga style, was all that was in the room, but it was the most important room because of this platform. The platform where members were tested against each other, to see who was the greater.

On it stood Hayato's opponent. Hayato winced, this would not be easy. The boy was, of course, a Hyuuga, and therefore had the Byakugan, and unlike Jiro, his were pure lavender. He was tall for his age, almost six feet tall. He had incredibly dark hair, so black that it practically absorbed the light around it, and unlike Hayato, his was left to fall about his head in a rather untraditional clan style. His pale skin, a mark of the fact that he almost never left the underground training facility and thus received very little sun, hid underneath it taunt muscles trained to the point of near instantaneous reaction to enemy movement.

His name was Hyuuga Ichirou, the prodigy of Weapon.

"I will be your opponent, Hayato-kohai."

"…As commanded, Ichirou-sempai."

Hayato fell into a Jyuuken stance, careful not to leave any holes, as his Byakugan activated. It was obvious he was not fated to win this encounter, as he was only Weapon's second greatest prodigy, but that did not mean this fight was going to be easy. Far from it. He could not simply surrender; his pride as a Weapon demanded it.

"On my signal, you two will fight until the other is unable to continue, using any tactics you see fit," said Hanabi with no emotion in her voice.

"Yes, Hanabi-sama," said the devoted Hayato.

Ichirou gave no reply, not even a nod.

"Ready? Begin!"

Hayato lunged at Ichirou, sending two strikes to his heart in quick succession. But Ichirou batted it aside with a simple block, sending a counter attack into Hayato's stomach. Hayato accepted the strike as unblock able in an instant, and instead controlled his flight back as the force sent him flying. Using the energy from the strike, he flipped back three times, the first of which sent his leg into Ichirou's chin.

But the strange child took the strike to the chin, and Hayato saw that his Tenketsu wouldn't close.

_So he's using _that_ move…?_

Ichirou flew backwards with the strike, apparently undamaged, and landed at the far wall, as Hayato completed his third flip.

"Hakke Kuushou."

Ichirou sent this air palm right into one of Hayato's arms as he flipped back, and Hayato found himself on the ground with incredible pain splitting his skull. He had fallen straight on his head.

Ichirou didn't waste this opportunity. Hayato felt Tenketsu close as Ichirou's knee slammed into his ribs from above, breaking a couple. From this vantage point, he sent two fingers towards the veins around the Byakugan.

_If he closes the Tenketsu around the eyes, I won't be able to use the Byakugan!_

Hayato quickly blocked the strike by pushing it aside with an open palm, and sent a second hand into Ichirou's throat. But it was blocked in a similar manner, and Ichirou jumped into the air with Hayato's hand still in his outstretched hands.

"Hayato-kohai…your mission was to kill Jiro."

He flipped forward towards the ground, releasing Hayato at the apex of the flip. The motion sent Hayato slamming into the ground, shattering the arena in an instant, and sent Ichirou hurtling into Hayato two seconds latter, sending even more debris into the air.

"I am glad you failed. Jiro is mine!"

Ichirou grabbed Hayato by the back of his head, and sent a hand to his arm, sealing the Tenketsu in it with lighting speed. Hayato awoke from the stupor of the two impacts in a few moments, but by then it was too late, his left arm fell uselessly at his side.

He sent a kick back into Ichirou's face, forcing the boy to fall back, releasing Hayato. Hayato fell forward, and with a tumble, he flew back to his feet. He jumped around to face Ichirou.

"Sempai…it was my mission. Therefore, it was a failure, not a chance for you to get your way."

"Yes, I suppose so, in your mind. But to me, there is nothing else but me and Jiro. Don't stand between us."

"I would never dream of it."

And he meant it.

He charged at Ichirou with his one good arm, but Ichirou redirected the energy with a simple grasp, gaining a hold on Hayato's arm again.

"Don't you ever learn? Jyuuken Myakuhaku. (Gentle Fist Pulsation)"

Hayato's eyes widened as his entire arm fell numb. From the signal point of contact at one Tenketsu, Ichirou had sent invasive chakra into his body, closing all of his Tenketsu in his right arm before it assimilated into his own chakra reserves.

_Such a move does not exist!_

Ichirou released Hayato's arm, with a jerk that sent him tumbling towards the ground to Ichirou's right. Ichirou smirked.

"You are within range of my divination."

_No!_

"Hakke Rokujuuyonshou!"

He sent one strike into Hayato's heart, slipping right through from his position at his back, knocking him further towards, but intercepting it with his foot, sending Hayato back to eye level.

_No way! He can use Rokujuuyonshou with his feet!_

Too stunned from the impacts to defend himself, he was helpless as four strikes, each twice as fast as the previous two landed straight into his legs and throat. Eight more came, further blocking off more Tenketsu, and leaving Hayato absolutely helpless as each strike sent a wave of pain through his body that kept him from defending from the next strike, and then numbing the area around it from lack of chakra to boot.

"Sixteen, thirty two."

The last strike of the thirty two sent him into the air, as Ichirou stood on the ground, emotionlessly looking up, holding himself in the initial position.

"You lose. Sixty-four palms."

He jumped into the air, striking Hayato sixty-four times with enhanced speed that sent all the strikes into the few unblocked areas of Hayato's body left in the span of what would normally give Ichirou two strikes. Each barrage increased in speed so that it would fit in the same time as the last barrage, and thus, always in the space of the first.

Hayato fell to the ground, coughing up a small amount of blood. Ichirou gently laid his foot out on his throat.

"You lose."

Hanabi looked out at Hayato two hours later as he bowed before her.

"What are you?"

"I am a Weapon."

"Who wields this Weapon?"

"You, Hanabi-sama."

"And what is your purpose?"

Hayato raised his head, absolute hatred in his eyes at the mere thought of his targets.

"I live… to destroy the Uchiha."

A/N: It's been a while, so sorry if this is a little sloppy. I'm rusty, still stretching my writing muscles again. So it might not be quite as good as previous chapters.

This is confirmation that, as of now, the arc is going to be longer than one chapter. This "training story arc" includes multiple interludes, and will be much longer than one chapter. How long? Can't say as of yet. But the deadline for submitting characters has been met, despite this. Thank you to all who submitted them, they will be introduced in an interlude, and you will receive credit at that time.

What is Weapon? Beyond that Hanabi controls it, and that Hayato and Ichirou are Weapons, all of which is stated above, I'll leave the details secret for now.

If you liked the chapter, and found it to be freer of error than usual, don't thank my improvements. It may or may not have had something to do with it, but the real people to thank are my beta readers, when it comes to freeing the story from error. The beta reader who read through this chapter for me was Ace31592. He did a better job than I could.

**Original Jutsu list:**

Jyuuken Myakuhaku (Gentle Fist Pulsation): Ichirou's special move of choice. Using it, he can shut down multiple Tenketsu while touching only one. Although seen to have been used in this chapter while holding down an opponent, this is by no means a requirement. Ichirou can unleash this move at any time, with even the lightest contact, as with normal Jyuken.

Next Chapter Preview: We're back with Jiro again as he struggles with his new training schedule. And what's this? Even in his sleep… he'll be training?

"_You bastard! Why didn't you tell me!?"_


	21. Consequences: The Training Begins

Consequences: The Training begins

**Consequences: The Training Begins**

Jiro stared down the dark forests of his mind, awaiting the inevitable.

_Why? Why do you still haunt me…?_

Jiro raised his hands into a Goken position as he saw it. The inevitabilities he had been searching for, they had arrived.

The glowing red eyes, like looking in a mirror.

Dark Jiro laughed, and it filled the night as Jiro collapsed to his hands and knees upon the sound.

_This can't be happening…Why does this keep happening?!_

Dark Jiro walked calmly over to his fallen self and grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against a tree with force that caused splinters to rain onto the ground.

The foul thing that signified all his hate, all his pent up rage, loosened its grip.

"**Did you miss me Jiro-kun? I'm never far away."**

"…Why do you always haunt my dreams…?"

"**Because, Jiro-kun, I'm a part of you, a stain on your very soul that may never be removed."**

"You're wrong! I destroyed you!"

"**Destroyed me?"** the thing bellowed in its laughter as it echoed across the forest. **"No, simple little child, you freed me from myself!"**

The grip tightened and Jiro began to suffocate. The air left his lunges and he could feel it. Death was coming and it was Death now that was choking the life away.

"**You think you can rid yourself from rage merely by **_**understanding**_** it? Fool! I am hate itself! By 'understanding' me, you freed yourself from the blind rage, only to thrust upon yourself the calculations of madness!"**

Jiro's sight began to grow blurry and he could feel the death that was upon him. The sweet embrace…

Jiro's hand shot forward, gripping his darker self's arm in a feeble, desperate vice.

"Not…yet…"

Dark Jiro's face contorted in agonizing hilarity, as he tossed the weaker consciousness aside like a rag.

"**Fine then, if you so wish, you will live. Live now…to suffer!"**

Dark Jiro and Jiro each readied themselves in a Goken stance. They would fight, as all men fight these parts of themselves. But this was merely one battle in a war no one could win.

Jiro stormed up to one of his senseis. Jiro instantly recognized the man's features. He wore black hair about his face as if he hadn't combed t in twelve years, and it flowed about his face like nightshade. His skin was white but oily, with patches of sweat and dirt showing in evidence that the man rarely bathed, further sign that he took horrible care of himself. And of course, he had the coal black eyes of all Uchiha, save for Jiro, which sat above a throne of sagging lines.

The man who called himself Yuuma was sitting there with a happy grin on his face.

To Jiro, it was a gesture of mockery.

"You bastard! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Jiro grabbed his sensei by the throat, taking him completely by surprised as he slammed him into a tree. But the momentary surprise soon passed and Yuuma grabbed Jiro by the wrist. The strength of the grip threatened to break the bones as he snapped Jiro's grip from his neck.

"Didn't tell you _what_?"

"About the dreams!"

Yuuma looked at him in pity. He hadn't suspected…

"Look at me, Jiro. Look at me!"

He grabbed the young Genin by the chin and twisted him around so that they could stare into the other's eyes. As Yuuma had expected, the Sharingan was active. However, to his relief, as he stared at the pupils, a black marking, like ink on papyrus, stretched out around them. The seal was holding.

"Look into my eyes!"

Jiro reluctantly obeyed, not realizing the man couldn't cast illusions through his Sharingan while his own was up. He didn't even realize that his Sharingan was active.

He watched as the other Uchiha let the Sharingan activate and a black seal etched its way across his eyes.

"This seal is similar to the one that seals the Kyuubi inside Naruto-sama. It's not as powerful, but it works on the same principles that the Hokage's seal uses to seal away the Kyuubi's personality. But like Naruto-sama's seal, this one could degrade, so I fixed that…"

The Sharingan left the other Uchiha's eyes as they closed in reflection on his own experience.

"In order to fix the degeneration, the seal reestablishes itself in your sleep."

"…What happens if I lose the battles I fight in my dreams?" Jiro asked, with a nervous tone infecting his voice. He already knew, or at least suspected, what the answer would be.

"If you lose, it will be just like if you had lost the first battle. You will disappear and your rage will take over."

"…A life time of fighting, even in my sleep…"

"If it helps, think of it as extra training. I do."

Jiro slumped to the ground as the full realization hit him. He could never be at peace…

"Bastard!"

He rushed at Yuuma again, but the Jounin caught his punch, and sent a fist to the young half-Uchiha's face. Jiro moved to block it, amazed at the ease with which he could see the move. But with his Sharingan active, he could see the entirety of what came in response to his block.

The punch contorted along its path, moving around the upraised arm, and slammed straight into his face.

Jiro fell to the ground as his arm snapped to its full length. Yuuma then stepped on his face, under the chin, holding the young boy in place between the full length of both his arm, and nearly the full length of Yuuma's. The pressure on his face ensured he wasn't going anywhere.

"Would you really have chosen any different if you had known?" asked the Uchiha sensei.

"It was still my right to know!"

Yuuma paused, and shook his head before replying.

"Yeah…I suppose it was."

"Dainamikku Entorii!"

Lee slammed a foot into Yuuma's face from the side, taking the Uchiha completely by surprise. Yuuma released his hold on Jiro as he fell to the ground.

Rubbing the new sore spot on his face, he calmly replied, "Lee-san…what was that for?"

"You attacked Jiro-kun!"

"Actually, sensei…I attacked him."

"What?!"

Yuuma got up, slightly exasperated, and said, "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Jiro, I assume this is settled?"

Jiro's muscles tensed in aggravation before he could stop himself. But slowly, he nodded his head.

"Yes…sensei."

"Then we can move on. Jiro, under Lee you will be learning taijutsu in your previous style. Under Neji, you will be learning taijutsu in the Jyuuken style. Under me you will be learning ninjutsu. I have taken the liberty of preparing a schedule."

He handed Jiro a piece of paper, which looked suspiciously like a napkin, with his schedule on it. Jiro's eyes raced across the page in horror.

"…You've only given me four hours of sleep...and no down time..."

"The Chuunin Exams will not be easy. You need all the preparation you can get."

"This training schedule will kill me!"

Lee raised a hand in the air, and grabbed Jiro by the back of his shirt.

"Come, my youthful student! The fires of hard work await us!"

Jiro almost burst into tears as he was pulled off. Six hours every day with Lee was twice the amount he could ever stand. Yuuma had almost instantly risen to the second most hated person on his list. The most hated was his father.

Jiro was exhausted beyond belief. Five hours of working with Lee was incredibly difficult. He simply could not stand it much longer. He could only thank the Gods that his time for that day was almost through.

After all, this was ridiculous! Even at this very moment he was trying to do one thousand push ups. Who the hell could do one thousand push ups?

"Hey, Lee sensei," came a voice that Jiro did not recognize as the half-Hyuuga went down for his five hundredth push up. "Who's this loser?"

The remark made Jiro's eyes narrow, but his resolve grew. He picked up the pace and, within moments, found himself finished. In the mean time, Lee introduced him.

"This is one of my oldest students, Jiro-kun!"

"Oldest students?" asked a second, female voice.

Jiro got up from his exercising position, and turned to face the voices. They belonged to three Genin that Jiro had never seen in the academy. He would have had to guess that that they were at least a year older than him and, therefore, not in his class. The team was set up in the traditional manner of gender distribution with two men and one woman.

The first boy could be described in one phrase: takes less care of himself than Yuuma. He had an odor that Jiro couldn't believe he hadn't smelled a mile off. His pale skin was so oily one could imagine him slipping out of an opponents grip from the grease. There was a small amount of facial fuzz on his lip that he obviously hadn't cared to rid himself of, and his eyes, at least what could be seen behind the bangs of uncombed brown hair, were bloodshot from many nights of no sleep. He carried no weapons with him, except for a single metal gauntlet that he had strapped up his arm. It was a clumsy thing, with no ornamentation and had no refinement, making it amount to little more than a blunt slab of steel.

Jiro also couldn't help noticing that the girl was considerably more attractive. She wore a jumpsuit in a similar style to Lee's, which didn't leave a lot to the imagination. The only difference was that she had inscribed seals along the entire length of the thing. Though, for what purpose, it was unclear. She wore her hair tied back from her blue eyes and held herself ready for battle. Jiro could tell from the tense, powerful looking muscles, the pleasant but strong gaze on her face, and the fact that her team mates seemed to keep their distance from her that she was definitely not someone to piss off, and probably had a short temper.

The last boy, however, had an entirely interesting, downright odd appearance. He wore a Kenjutsu uniform with no shoes, which bulged in the back slightly for a reason the Jiro couldn't fathom. Jiro took careful note of his feet which, without shoes on, were easily observed as having a big toe jetting from the side rather than the front, giving them the grip of a monkey. A blood red belt wrapped about his waist, with four swords hanging from it, two on each side. His brown hair was cut short, and his skin was tanned from days spent under a hot sun, refining his skills. Jiro could sense that he would be a difficult opponent to defeat, should the need arise.

Jiro cleared his throat, and asked for an introduction.

"Kinzoku Minoru," said the kid with the gauntlet, simply stating his name with a grunt.

"I'm Hayashi Hiroko. Call me Hiroko-chan, and I'll castrate you."

"Oshiro Kiyoto, Lee-sama's _best_ student."

_Oshiro…isn't he the kid who killed a Chuunin when he was six years old?_

Jiro smiled as he replied. "Oh is that so?"

Lee gave a thumbs up to Kiyoto and the new group of Genin.

"I want you to meet my Genin team, Jiro-kun! I thought it would be beneficial for you to have other youthful rivals as opponents!"

Jiro narrowed his eyes. He could tell from a glance that these were strong opponents. He popped a soldier pill into his mouth, and felt his strength return.

"You've got to be kidding me, sensei!" yelled an outraged Kiyoto. "A Chuunin hopeful against a ripe Genin? No contest!"

Jiro lowered himself into a Goken stance.

"Oh yeah? Well, guess what. I'll be entering the Chuunin exams as well."

Kiyoto gave a harsh laugh and nearly doubled over from the force of it escaping his mouth.

"Against one such as you, I would not need to draw a single sword."

Lee grinned.

"Well then, a Taijutsu match can settle that! Jiro-kun, Kiyoto-kun, the rules will be simple. No ninjutsu, no genjutsu, and everything else goes!"

Jiro and Kiyoto nodded. Kiyoto untied the sheathed swords from his waist, and tossed them away from the field of battle.

"Are you sure you don't want to use those?" asked Jiro, activating his Byakugan.

"I'm sure, half-Hyuuga," he replied, raising himself on one foot, into his peculiar battle pose.

Jiro winced. The kid knew how to throw an insult. He hadn't expected that from a non-Uchiha.

Jiro lowered himself, and sprang forward, sending three kicks out in sequence to Kiyoto's face.

"Niikikku!"

Kiyoto dodged the first kick easily, flipping back onto one hand. The kick sailed passed where his head used to be.

"Shokikku!"

The second kick angled downward, aiming to set him off balance. But Kiyoto was a good acrobat.

"You don't think people always try to exploit the 'lack of balance' of monkey style?" he mocked, as he flipped to the side, landing on a foot.

"Sankikku Rendan!"

Jiro sent the final, most powerful kick, out to intercept his face mid flip. But the boy caught it in one hand, and made a second flip to the side. He landed on one hand and used the momentum from the flip to launch Jiro to the ground. His face slammed against the earth, creating a small crater. Kiyoto flipped forward again, releasing Jiro's hand, to land on one foot, straight atop Jiro's back. The stone under Jiro gave way, flying into the air under the force.

Kiyoto calmly strode off of Jiro and cockily smirked down at him.

"So then...give up?"

"N-never…"

Jiro got back up shakily to his feet.

"I'm not done yet!"

"Shouldn't your spine have broken?" asked Kiyoto with a sneer.

"I'm very resilient."

Kiyoto laughed.

"I see. You're wearing weights like armor, aren't you?"

Jiro closed his eyes, nodded reluctantly and moved to remove them.

"…Perhaps now this battle might get interesting!" exclaimed Kiyoto with a bellowing laugh, as he rose back into a taijutsu stance.

(Flashback: Nine Years earlier.)

Kiyoto panted at the ground as he stared down at the hands of his sensei. The man was a regular monkey and easily flipped onto one foot. The feet had grips similar to his hands on them and one of them held a shinai.

"Get up and try again."

"How the hell am I supposed to beat a Jounin!?"

"You have a very foul mouth. Get up and try again," his sensei said, reassuring him with a small smile. The boy really was coming along nicely.

Kiyoto nodded and struggled to his feet.

"Yes sir, Dosato-sama."

Kenji Dosato looked down as the young child got back to his feet. The young Kiyoto got to his feet, and grabbed his single shinai.

_This is so unfair. He's a Jounin, and I'm not even an academy student. He has three swords, and I only have one._

"Sensei, could I at least grab another shinai?"

"Oh? You think you can handle a second sword? Then, by all means, grab another. You'll find them in the supply closet."

The young Kiyoto grinned, and walked up to the closet where the master swordsmen kept the bamboo practice blades. He grabbed one and paused in getting back to the arena only long enough for a quick glance at his sensei's sword.

It was amazing to the child that his sensei could wield such a thing. It was a Zanbato, a sword so big that it could cut down a man and his horse in a single blow. There were only a handful of people in the world who could wield such a thing and most of them were the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of Kirigakure.

_This is proof that my father was telling the truth when he said Dosato-sama was the best._

Kiyoto got back into the arena with the legendary Kenji Dosato, Master of the Zanbato.

"So, you really think you can wield two swords?"

"How hard can it be?"

Kiyoto drew the shinai out and charged at the man. Kenji just dodged to the side and sent one sword from his foot at Kiyoto. To his credit, the boy blocked, but the impact was powerful and the shinai flew out of his hand.

Kenji slipped down onto one hand and used it as a fulcrum to force the second sword out of the boy's other hand. He then slammed three shinai into the child's head.

Kiyoto fell to the ground, massive pain from the blow threatening to split his head in half.

"Tell me, Kiyoto. What just happened?'

"…You easily knocked the swords from my hands."

"And why was that?"

"…Because my grip was weak."

Kenji smiled. The boy caught on quick.

"That's right," he said, offering a hand to help the child up. "Why was your grip weak?"

"…I tried to wield two swords and, therefore, wasn't gripping them with both hands."

"Correct. So let that be a lesson to you, your overconfidence will be your downfall."

"Yes, sensei."

Dosato raised his shinai in a combat ready position.

"Again! Grab _one_ shinai and try again. Never surrender!

"Yes, Dosato-sama!"

(Present Day)

Kiyoto smiled at the pleasant memory.

_This kid is like I was that day. Over confident. I'll show you, sensei, wherever you are. I have surpassed all previous users of the Monkey Style Kenjutsu._

Kiyoto ran forward at Jiro, slamming him in the face with a foot. He grabbed him by the nose and sent him to the ground. He slammed a leg into his back and held it there.

"Surrender, you're outmatched."

"If I surrender here, I might as well never enter the Chuunin Exams!"

Jiro grabbed Kiyoto's foot and twisted it. The monkey boy easily just landed forward on his hands, but the move gave Jiro the room he needed to escape. As soon as he was up, Jiro disappeared in a burst of speed and sent Kiyoto flying into the air with a kick. He appeared behind Kiyoto and slammed him back to the ground with a sharp kick.

But when the dust settled, Kiyoto was gone.

"What!?"

"Behind you," said Kiyoto, appearing behind the half-Hyuuga. "You thought you were the only one who could move so fast, didn't you?"

Kiyoto disappeared again, moving so fast the Byakugan could barely keep track of him. He'd appear for an instant as a flickering image every once and a while, until Jiro noticed that there was more than one.

"Zanzou Bushin no Jutsu!"

Jiro instantly began to analyze his opponent's technique. Kiyoto was moving at an incredibly fast speed, he soon realized, and stopped every few moments for a mere instant to create an image of himself. It was impossible to determine which was the real Kiyoto, because they were _all_ real.

_Such a technique!_

Jiro soon learned the bigger advantage of the jutsu. Kiyoto wasn't simply creating images of himself. He was in absolutely every place an image appeared.

A clone appeared behind Jiro, slamming a foot into his back. But before he could even turn to retaliate, Kiyoto was in front of him, knocking him forward, and straight into a tree. But the Kiyoto was below him, sending him into the air.

"How sad, can't even stand up to a simple Oshiro Clan Technique."

Kiyoto was suddenly in the air above Jiro, holding his body parallel to the half-Uchiha.

"Why do you fight? What is your purpose as a Shinobi?" asked the monkey boy.

Jiro sent a punch to the boy's face, but Kiyoto caught it. Jiro persisted with a kick that was caught immediately in a foot. Kiyoto grabbed all his limbs in one of his grips, and Jiro couldn't escape.

"Kakutou Gachan!"

Jiro was slammed into the ground by the force of Kiyoto's speed and weight. Dust flew into the air as the ground beneath him gave way to the force and, this time, the armor wouldn't save him.

Kiyoto jumped out from the dirt. Calmly, he walked towards his team mates, but then stopped as he heard a small displacement of shattered stone. Jiro was getting out of the crater. His body was adorned with multiple gashes across his face and back from the impact, but no bones seemed to be broken.

"Indeed, I see that you _are_ very resilient."

"Sharingan!"

The red eyes replaced the Byakugan across Jiro's face, much to the surprise of many of the present Genin. They had known just by looking at him that he had to be a half-Hyuuga, but they never suspected that he could be _the_ half-Hyuuga.

"You asked me why I fight. I fight to prove to the world that I'm more than garbage!"

"I see. So then you fight for yourself."

A cocky grin spread across the young man's face as he readied himself again for combat.

"Then against my reason to fight, my reason to live, you'll never win. You can not outlast my way of the Shinobi."

In the background, Hiroko smiled slightly. Kiyoto never changed really. They went back quite a ways. She had seen him when he was at his best, and she knew what his way of the ninja was. She remembered the night when he killed a Chuunin.

(Flashback: Seven Years earlier)

The six year old Kiyoto was celebrating his birthday today. It wasn't a major festivity. He wasn't into that sort of thing. But he did like to celebrate the day he was born.

He was returning from the grocery store, with the ingredients for a cake in tow. That's when he heard it, a scream from a nearby window, a cry for help from a girl his age.

_What the hell?_

Kiyoto drew his sword, and ran over to the building, looking in through a window. The sight that befell him was of a bloody mess. A body was pinned to a wall by Kunai. The body of a young woman with flowing brown hair, now stained red with blood.

_Who could do something like this?_

He slammed his sword into a window and jumped through the cleared passage into the room. He looked about with despair. He couldn't stand the sight of something like this. It was an unspeakable crime.

"Help!" cried the voice of a young girl in desperation. She couldn't believe that someone could hear her and yet here he was. Kiyoto didn't believe in destiny, but this was quite a coincidence.

He rushed up the stairs to the second story of the house. Bloody foot prints welcomed and beckoned him up. Both the foot prints of a man covered in innocent blood and the small feet of a victim whose blood was being spilled.

He arrived at the top of the house and starred down the hallway. One door was ajar and he walked slowly, not even daring to breath. He could feel a wall of murderous intent in front of him like a blanket, calling out to him to die.

He arrived at the door, and stared the opening, praying to the Shinigami that he would not be seen.

The sight that awaited him was of a young girl his age sitting in a corner. She had blood pouring from several cuts across the skin of her body, arms, hands, even feet. Kiyoto recognized them immediately as defensive wounds. In front of her was a man with a bloody knife, sharpening it against a wet stone.

"I've got you now, Hiroko-chan."

"Please, dad, no!"

Kiyoto could tell from his breath he was drunk, from his eyes that he was crazed, and from his jacket that he was a Chuunin. This kind of opponent was beyond him. He couldn't hope to succeed if he went in there to save her.

_No… I don't want to abandon her…but I can't!_

He slumped against the wall, helplessly trembling.

_Dosato-sensei, what would you do? What should _I_ do?!_

"_Never surrender!"_

Kiyoto's eyes widened. He remembered those words well; they were the same phrase his sensei would always tell him every day. He had always thought it was a strange thing to say, he wasn't going to give up in the middle of a sparring match. One day, however, he had asked.

"_It is not that you must not surrender now, but that you must _never_ give in to your impulses. There will come a time your ideals will clash with what will keep you alive. The answer to that quandary will be these words: Never Surrender!"_

Kiyoto's eyes narrowed into a steely resolve. He finally understood what it meant to be a swordsman.

"Help!"

"Leave her alone!"

Kiyoto flew out from the opened door, and stabbed his sword in unsuspecting Shinobi's back. He violently continued slashing, stabbing, and tearing. A tear rolled down from his face and mixed with the man's blood.

"Leave her alone! People like you…"

He slammed the sword straight through the man's skull, and it came out his mouth.

"People like you make me sick!"

(Present)

"Then tell me, what _is_ your Nindo?"

"I will defend those who can not. That is my Nindo!"

Kiyoto untied the belt around his waist.

_Impossible! It couldn't be that…_

He tossed it aside, and it made a bellowing impact with the ground.

_He was wearing weights!_

Kiyoto charged forward.

_The Sharingan can still see him. But my body can't react in time!_

Kiyoto slammed Jiro like a pinball from one tree to a slab of stone to the ground, then under him into the air. Jiro could not hope to keep up with this immense speed.

"Too…fast…"

Kiyoto was in front of him in an instant. He blasted him further into the air, then further, then further, and further. Finally he increased the pace and was behind Jiro in an instant.

"This will end it! Omote Renge!"

Kiyoto slammed Jiro to the ground with such speed that he could not react. He could feel the world coming in and out of focus as he coughed on dust. He could hear applause to Kiyoto from his friends and Lee. It was quite a feat.

_He can perform the Omote Renge without the Celestial Gates...?_

Jiro fell to the ground with a smile on his face. He didn't mind loosing against someone like this. Kiyoto had been working as hard as him. He felt his resolve harden like iron.

_If these are the kinds of opponents I must face in the exams, I will grow stronger! I will obliterate the competition and rise to the top._

_And then I will have proved that I am not trash simply because of my blood._

A/N: The scene between Yuuma and Jiro took me forever to write. I used up at least half the month I gave myself just working on that, before deciding I just couldn't continue with it. I went through at least ten, maybe twenty drafts (no, I'm serious) on that scene, and I'm _still_ not happy with it. But it needed to be put in to rectify a mistake. Until this scene was put in, the S.I.M.R. had been almost completely dealt with. The consequences of it were greatly diminished, but now we can see some rematches between Jiro and Dark Jiro. So I decided to just eave it as it was, and hope for the best.

Kiyoto is one of my favorite characters personally. Expect him to be a major contender in the exams. Also, I just want to point out that the Chuunin he killed was both drunk, and crazy. Therefore, he was not checking to make sure a small monkey boy with a sword wasn't sneaking up from behind, as any sane/sober Shinobi would. Therefore, the fact that he killed a Chuunin at that age is not because he was some sort of God Moder, but because he got in a cheap shot. That part has, however, been left out of his reputation, because honestly, the rumor mill isn't a reliable source of information. That combined with his excellent skills gives him an excellent psychological advantage.

The fight between Jiro and Kiyoto was heavily inspired by a review I got. I didn't know how to introduce him, but then decided that there was no better way than with a fight like this. I like it. And for those of you who think he's too powerful…I can see where you're coming from. Just know that no one is invincible, everyone in this story has someone else who can defeat him/her.

**Original Jutsu List:**

Kakutou Gachan (Grappling Slam): A move that can only be utilized by monkey Style Taijutsu, because of the fact that normal humans do not have four hands. Kyoto holds down an opponent with four limbs, so that they can not escape, and allows gravity to bring them both to the ground. He uses the victim as a shield so that he does not feel the force of impact.

Zanzou Bushin no Jutsu (After Image Clone Technique): Kiyoto creates clones of himself using his incredible speed, and good timing, to leave after images. The speed comes in when he needs to be able to make after images at all. The timing counteracts the idea of him simply disappearing from the incredible speed he produces. He has to time it so that he stops moving for moments that are just long enough to produce a small image. This move is meant to confuse the opponent, and dates from pre-Shinobi history, before chakra could simply be used to create a Bushin. However, it does have the advantage of allowing the user to attack the opponent from any of the directions the images appear in, without wasting a lot of chakra on Shadow Clones. It is a Jutsu only used by the Oshiro Clan, but can be imitated by anyone, it just fell out of popular use after the invention of the Bushin no Jutsu during the Shinobi Era. It is completely neutralized by the Sharingan, in that a Sharingan user can follow your movements without waiting for you to stop to see it.


End file.
